>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Good
morning,
everyone. The council will come
to order. Good
morning. The council will come
to order. Thank
you.
Madam Clerk, please take a
quorum roll call.
>> Good morning, City Council.
The quorum roll
call is now open. The quorum
roll call is now open.
If you need help logging into
your e-device, please
raise your hand. I know we had
some technical
difficulties this morning but
we'll relog you in, just
to raise your hand. Thank
you.
>> I will now SKAUL on those
with a -- call on
those with a voice vote.
Alderman Hopkins. Alderman
Hopkins is present. Alderwoman
Dowell. Dowell is
present. Alderman Robinson.
Not present in chambers.
Alderman Hall. Not present in
chambers. Alderman
Mitchell, not present in
chambers. Alderwoman Harris
Harris.
Hair I is present. Alderwoman
Ramirez. Not present
in chambers. Alderwoman
Gutierrez, not present in
chambers. Alderwoman Coleman.
rris is present. Alderwoman
Ramirez. Not present in chambers. Alderwoman Gutierrez, not present in
chambers. Alderwoman Coleman.
Coleman is present.
Alderman Curtis, not present in
chambers. Alderman
Alderman Curtis, not present in chambers. Alderman O'Shea. >> Here.
>> O'Shea is present. Alderman
Mosley, not
present in chambers. Alderman
O'Shea. >> Here.
>> O'Shea is present. Alderman Mosley, not present in chambers. Alderman
Rodriguez.
>> Here.
>> O'Shea is present. Alderman Mosley, not present in chambers. Alderman
Rodriguez. >> Online.
>> I'll come back to you.
Alderwoman Scott.
Not present in chambers.
Alderman Burnett, not
present in chambers. Alderman
Taliaferro. Taliaferro
is present.
Alderwoman Cruz, not present in
chambers.
Alderwoman Rodriguez
Sanchez, present. Alderman
Conway, not present in chambers.
Alderwoman Mitts,
not present in chambers.
Alderman Vasquez, not
present in chambers, Alderman
Napolitano, not present
in chambers. Awl Reilly, not --
Alderman Reilly, not
present in -- oh, Alderman
Reilly is present.
Alderman Gardiner, not present
in chambers.
Alderwoman Clay, not present in
chambers. Alderwoman
Manaa Hoppenworth, present.
Alderwoman Hadden, not
present in chambers. Alderwoman
Silverstein.
Silverstein is present.
Alderwoman Ramirez, Ramirez
is present. Anyone else I
missed in chambers? I will
do the remote soon after.
Mayor, we have a quorum.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. There
are 32 members present. We do
have a quorum. There
are four members who have
requested to participate in
today's meeting remotely. For
reasons stated in rule
59, would you please confirm the
online presence of
alders Burnett, Hall, Clay and
are four members who have
requested to participate in today's meeting remotely. For reasons stated in rule
59, would you please confirm the online presence of alders Burnett, Hall, Clay and
Mosley.
>> Alderman Hall?
59, would you please confirm the
online presence of alders Burnett, Hall, Clay and Mosley.
>> Alderman Hall? >> WILLIAM HALL: Present.
>> Alderman Burnett.
>> Alderman Hall?
>> WILLIAM HALL: Present. >> Alderman Burnett. >> WALTER BURNETT: Present.
>> Alderman Mosley.
>> Alderman Burnett.
>> WALTER BURNETT: Present. >> Alderman Mosley. >> RONNIE MOSLEY: Present.
>> Alderman Rodriguez.
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: Present.
>> Alderwoman
Scott.
Alderman Conway?
>> WILLIAM CONWAY: Present.
>> Alderwoman Clay.
>> ANGELA CLAY: Present.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. The two
additional, three additional,
Rodriguez, Conway, as
well as Clay and Scott, very
well. All members with
the exception of Scott have
confirmed their presence
online. Can I get a motion to
approve the remote
participation? It's been moved.
All those in favor
of the remote participation of
alders Burnett, Hall,
Clay, Mosley, Rodriguez, Conway
and Clay signify by
saying aye. Any opposed say nay
in the opinion of the
chairs, the ayes have it.
Please add those members to
the quorum roll call, Madam
Clay, Mosley, Rodriguez, Conway
and Clay signify by saying aye. Any opposed say nay in the opinion of the
chairs, the ayes have it. Please add those members to the quorum roll call, Madam
Clerk. Clay, Mosley, Rodriguez, Conway and Clay signify by
saying aye. Any opposed say nay in the opinion of the chairs, the ayes have it.
Please add those members to the quorum roll call, Madam Clerk.
>> And Alderwoman Cruz just
walked in, we will
add you to the quorum.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Thank
you, Madam Clerk. Let's stand
for the pledge of
allegiance.
add you to the quorum.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very well. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let's stand
for the pledge of allegiance.
(Pledge of allegiance)
.
Please remain standing for our
invocation, which
will be delivered today by
reverend Dr. Nicholas A
Pier, founding senior pastor of
Please remain standing for our
invocation, which will be delivered today by reverend Dr. Nicholas A
Pier, founding senior pastor of crosstown community church.
>> Let us pray. Eternal God,
ruler of nations
and redeemer of neighborhoods,
we thank you for the
strength of our neighborhoods
and for the resilience
of our neighbors. We thank you
for the beauty of our
SIMENT and our garden, for the
bold resolve of a
people who forge ahead against
the chilly winds of
adversity and uncertainty. We
thank you for the story
that you are writing in Chicago.
Now, God, as these
leaders deliberate and decide
the future of our SIMENT
today, grant them the clarity to
know what is best and
nd uncertainty. We thank you
for the story that you are writing in Chicago. Now, God, as these leaders
deliberate and decide the future of our city today, grant them the clarity to know
what is best and the
courage to do it give them
conviction without cruelty,
collaboration without compromise
of conscience, and
vision that stretches beyond the
next news cycle to
the next generation. To
children yet unborn who will
inherit the consequences of what
is chosen today in
this chamber. We look before
you today the unhoused,
the unsafe, the undocumented and
the unseen. Those
navigating shelter systems and
street corners, those
navigating fear and food
food insecurity, those
navigating
paperwork and prejudice, those
navigating despair in
silence. Guard this chamber
from protecting political
power while neglecting our
neighbors. From placing
reputation over righteousness,
compassion over
convenience, and self-interest
over service. We pray,
Lord, that as they weigh budgets
and policies,
proposals and priorities, that
you would remind them
that every vote carries a face
and every ordinance
holds a destiny that can be
shaped in its hands. Let
your peace enjoy a buy today
even as we and the entire
world pause to mourn the
reverend
Jesse Louis Jackson,
senior, a preacher and
humanitarian who called this
nation too see the forgotten and
to hear the silence.
We thank you for his witness
that declared in word and
work that faith belongs not only
in sanctuaries but in
systems and in streets. May
this chamber today take
actions that inspire our city to
keep hope alive,
serve notice to the discouraged,
the disinherited and
the disenfranchised that they,
too, can say I am
somebody. In Jesus name, we
pray, amen.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Amen.
Thank you.
You may be seated.
Thank you. This is a portion of
the meeting for
Thank you. This is a portion of the meeting for public comments. Mr. Clerk?
>> The council will now begin
the public
comment period, which is limited
to a maximum of 30
minutes. Each speak certificate
limited to thee
minutes. Speakers cannot yield
or transfer their time
to another speaker. Any written
comments that have
been submitted will be posted
and made available for
aldermanic review. Our first
speaker today is
today is Jessica
Fifer.
>> Good morning, everyone. My
name is Jessica
Fifer, and my daughter swims
with the Chicago park
district swim club. I am here
today to ask mayor
Johnson and the City Council to
support our swim
program. Over the last several
years, the CPD swim
club has grown into a polished
and talented team that
competes against some of the
best private clubs in the
region. The coaches have
expanded the program each
year and have fostered athletes
capable of winning
regional and statewide
competitions.
The parents and coaches want the
CPD swim club
to rival private swim clubs and
have worked hard to
achieve this. As we speak, 130
kids are preparing for
regional championships that will
take place at the end
of February.
While the kids are rising to the
challenge, the
club overall is being
constrained by a lack of
necessary resources. Coaching
hours are being
restricted at this crucial time
of the season. The
team was initially withdrawn
from the Delta chase the
dream meet this weekend, which
is the final
opportunity for swimmers to
qualify for regionals.
Even more concerning, the swim
club is on the verge of
being relegated to a smaller
pool this spring, which
will result in dedicated
swimmers being -- having to
be cut from the team.
Looking long term, these budget
and facility
constraints will result in less
in less inclusivity and pool
time for our athletes. These
changes go against the
Chicago park district's mission
as well as your
administration's focus on youth
investment and
opportunity.
We find this unacceptable. Over
the past few
weeks, the parents and boosters
have risen to the
occasion and forcefully
advocated for the club and its
swimmers. We have lobbied the
park district
leadership and contacted our
aldermen. After a
meeting last week with park
district REMENTS, they
agreed to reinstate the Delta
chase the dream meet
meet this weekend. We are
grateful for this but it is
not enough. We ask you, mayor
Johnson, and the City
Council, to work with the
Chicago park district to
expand coaching roles and
increase payroll hours in
order to grow the program
further. As we are a club
creating inclusivity and
accessibility for all
socioeconomic situations.
Further investment is required
for our continued
growth. We want coach Alex to
be given a full-time
position with the title of head
coach. We need to
increase our pool space, not see
it cut back. Due to
limited park district pool space
and trouble
collaborating with the Chicago
Public Schools, the CPD
swim club is on the VERNL of
having to cut more than
verge of having to cut more than
20 --
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker this morning is Dr.
Sandie ANorman
--
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker this morning is Dr.
Sandie ANorman.
>> Well, first I want to honor
God. I honor
you, mayor Johnson, I honor
every Alderman here at
City Council and all our
respectable organizations and
I do want to honor the late
Jesse Jackson during this
black history month. I want to
talk about political
retribution ton today, and I
hope that I have the
attention of every alderman
that's here on this
morning. Last night in my
neighborhood, which is
bronze ville, even though I work
on the west side and
the south side of Chicago, there
was a young man that
was shot down and killed in
Bronzeville. All over the
City Council we continue to have
deaths. We even had
a young lady that actually
worked for the City of
Chicago and passed away and died
due to violence. So
as I heard the he will KWEPT
prayers of a pastor and
I'm also a pastor as well and he
talked about the
neighborhoods, the reason why
I'm here is because I'm
TLIEL in the neighborhoods. And
actually in the neighborhoods.
And so I don't just
talk in front of City Council
but I spend my life on
the street. I spend my life in
the neighborhoods
where all of the tragedies and
things that the person,
the pastor prayed about, are
actually going on. And I
continue to come down here and I
continue to champion
even from my organization for
those that don't get
funding, for those that don't
get the seat at the
table, but that consistently do
the work.
I want to say to you, mayor
Johnson, that I have
been experiencing political
retribution. Just
because, you know, I respected
everybody, all of you
aldermen, that are here, I have
never disrespected
anybody in City Council
chambers. I've been
honorable, and I've been
respectable to everyone.
everyone. But
it is my amendment right if I
disagree, I can be
peaceable and disagree. And I
shouldn't have to be
retaliated against. I want to
bring to your awareness
that I was nominated by a
caucus, but because my
attorney told me that there were
things that I
couldn't say for an award for
being a trailblazer here
in the City of Chicago for the
work that I do in
violence intervention. I got a
call that that award
was snatched back for no
apparent reason. Also, Mayor
Johnson, your sister, you know,
she came on my page
and attacked me, but she did --
she did send a message
saying that she wanted to talk.
But I believe that
when you attack somebody
publicly, the right thing to
do is to issue a public apology
because that affect
people like me. And when we
talk about the RFPs and
the funding, and when you have
people that are in
position and power to give you
the funding and then
you have the gate keepers and
the people as I'm
experiencing that don't like
you, how am I supposed to
get funded? How am I supposed
to get help?
And so I want this to be put on
public record
that I've been honorable to you,
Mayor Johnson, I've
get funded? How am I supposed
to get help? And so I want this to be put on public record
that I've been honorable to you, Mayor Johnson, I've been honorable and --
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker this morning is
Jeremy Dedic
.
>> Thank you and good morning,
Mayor Johnson,
madam president, and members of
the City Council. My
name is Jeremy Dedic, I'm the
co-founder of can you
being ton's cabinet. We
specialize in plant based
products including CBG that
would be forced to close
next month without the mayor's
thoughtful veto of the
hemp ordinance passed last
month. The ordinance
effectively banned almost all
consumable hemp derived
products from sale, including
CBD. Many of you are
okay with that because you, like
all of us, don't want
intoxicating products getting
into the hands of children.
While I don't agree that this
flawed ban and its
new loopholes was the way to
address that, at least I
understood the rationale. But
that was before you,
City Council, agreed to an
egregious unprecedented
carve out for intoxicating THC
additives in bars,
restaurants and bowling alleys
with up to 10
milligrams of any type of THC
per serving. I ask you
to consider how radical the
policy you passed truly
was. It was one of the most
aggressive expanses of
THC use in the country without
proportional caution
and planning to do so
responsibly. There are a
handful of jurisdictions in the
U.S. that have passed
legislation allowing the sale of
prepackaged THC
drinks in bars and restaurants.
But in those
instances, they carefully built
out extensive
guardrails for safety. And all
of them require a
special hemp license along with
an alcohol license.
Chicago did none of this. Ours
are already high fast
paced high risk environments.
Mixing consumption of
alcohol and THC significantly
increases impairment and
ensures certainly won't cover
mixed use because of the
serious known risks. But the
deepest concern is the
additives carve out. For the
first time anywhere in
the U.S., Chicago would have
allowed on site mixing of
highly concentrated THC
additives in liquid, powder or
crystal form into drinks and
bars in entertainment
venues, not prepackaged,
premeasured products, but
open handling and mixing
environments already centered
around alcohol.
Unlike other places that allow
carefully planned
mixed use Chicago passed its
expansion with no
requirements for hemp licensing,
training, dosing
education or impairment
impairment recognition training.
Meanwhile responsible hemp
retailers like us who
operate in controlled
environments, check ICHLT Ds
and
only sell to those over the age
age of 21 sell third party
tested and accurately labeled
products and none of
this junk that should be off the
market that look
alike Candi counterfeit snacks
and we spend our days
educating customers who have
been forced to close even
for selling nonintoxicating
items. This among other
flaws and new loopholes in the
ordinance defy logic.
Chicago got extremely lucky this
ordinance was vetoed
by the mayor. This body has a
responsibility to
flaws and new loopholes in the
ordinance defy logic. Chicago got extremely lucky this ordinance was vetoed
by the mayor. This body has a responsibility to steward public safety.
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker this morning is
Brisia
by the mayor. This body has a
responsibility to steward public safety. >> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our next speaker this morning is Brisia Rodriguez.
by the mayor. This body has a responsibility to steward public safety.
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker this morning is
Brisia Rodriguez.
by the mayor. This body has a responsibility to steward public safety.
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker this morning is
Brisia Rodriguez.
>> Good morning. I hope
everyone is well this
morning. My name is Brisia
Rodriguez and my daughter
is a part of the Chicago park
district swim club. I
have taken the time to come
speak to City Council
because I feel it is not only
the parent, the pressing
kids in the club to serve with
you all the future kids
in the city as well. The swim
club is 140 kids. It
is full of diversity and from
every corner of the
city. I recognize we are lucky
to have this
opportunity but it shouldn't be
about luck. It should
be about our social equity and
support from our
council members and mayor. Mr.
Mayor, members of the
council, we often speak in this
chamber about the tale
of two cities and the need to
close the opportunity
gap. Yet in youth athletics, we
have quietly accepted
a pay to play system. Where
elite training is treated
as a luxury good available only
to families who can
afford private club fees.
Chicago can change the
narrative of pay to play sports.
We need to treat at
letic talent the way we treat
academic talent. When
we identify a brilliant
mathematician in a public
school we don't ask if the
parents can afford the
textbook, we invest in the
child. We need to apply
the same logic to Chicago park
district swim club and
any club that would give kids
the same equity that we
would otherwise not be able to
afford. True equity
isn't about giving a place to
splash around. It's
about giving the same exact
pathway to the Olympic
podium as the child on the north
side. And to do
this, we must respect the labor.
We need full time
salaried coaches. We cannot
build with gig economic
labor. We're asking for nine
staff. At the moment we
have five. Our kids spend up to
eight to ten hours a
week training and the kids --
the coaches train our
kids body and mind to get them
RAED for the meets,
regionals and state. With
limited staff we have
limited training. Secondly the
city must support the
athletes citywide. We have a
central location which
is WHIT any at the moment but
that will be moved to
Sheridan park which will include
20 cuts so we have to
tell 20 kids that they're no
longer in the club even
though they have the talent. So
but instead of -- so
we need a pool on the south
side. Asking for a pool
on the south side and north side
and this gives every
swimmer a part and fair
opportunity at their dream.
We have high schools and park
districts that are
available for use and are not
being used at the
moment. Please give us AK to
these pools and the
required staff needed to run it.
We have the coach's
passion to teach the child has
the ambition to learn
and excel. The parents have the
support. All we need
is our city to have our back.
If they believe -- if
our kids believe they can be
(indiscernible) who are
we to tell them otherwise. Who
are we to clip our
kids' wings and pull
limitations. Your child's
potential is not limited by your
bank account. If
they have the drive, the City
drive, the City of Chicago has
to have
their back.
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker is Alex
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker is Alex Fitzgerald.
>> Hi, all. Good morning.
Thank you so much
for your attention. My name is
Alex Fitzgerald. I'm
a former employee of Chicago
animal care and control.
It's an often overlooked city
department that does
absolutely vital work for our
communities in very
difficult conditions and with a
very tight budget.
The mayor recently announced
essay pointing sue SAN
Capelo to the position of
permanent executive
director. Miss Capello was
appointed to the
leadership position of deputy
director in 2021. Since
that time, shelter animal deaths
have increased by
187.3 percent in owner requested
euthanasias have
requested by 110.4 percent. The
percentage of dogs
dying in the shelter has doubled
and 7.2 fewer stray
dogs are being returned to their
owners. Thanks to
the hard work of CACC staff and
volunteers, great
progress was made in increasing
cat adoptions in 2025.
Unfortunately the same success
was not seen for dogs.
Dog adoptions were 15.4 percent
lower than they were
in 2019. And more dogs admitted
to the shelter were
euthanizeed than adopted. The
first and easiest step
in addressing these issues is to
implement industry
standard best practices
throughout the shelter. A
knowledgeable animal welfare
professional with
experience managing a municipal
shelter is going to be
best equipped to accomplish
this.
For that reason, I and other
animal welfare
advocates are asking the mayor
and the City Council to
wait to appoint an executive
director until a national
search for a highly qualified
candidate can be
performed. Thank you so much
advocates are asking the mayor
and the City Council to wait to appoint an executive director until a national
search for a highly qualified candidate can be performed. Thank you so much
for your time.
>> Thank you for your comments.
Our next
speaker this morning is Chris
B.
>> Good morning. Mayor Johnson,
ladies and
gentlemen of City Council.
Happy to be here. Thank
you for the opportunity to talk
about an issue that's
important to me but probably
won't be all that
important to you. There's a ton
of topics today.
You're going to go through a
thousand different
motions. So let me not talk
about the minutia of this
but use it as an example and
something that should
actually scare and SOERT
frighten I think most people
who count on City Council to
sort of frighten I think most
people who count on City Council to care about the
details and count on City
Council to be transparent
with what you're doing with
SWANs. So let me take a
step back. I have a small
zoning critique, I suppose.
There's a portion of a public
alley that's being given
to a private developer. Swan
developer. That is basically
being
railroaded through zoning. It
was not announced to us
until February 10th that there
was going to be an
ordinance today. Now, we didn't
even know what that
was, how that was going to
materialize. So February
10th we get told there's going
to be an ordinance.
Can't wait to see it. February
11th, no update, 12th,
13th, no update. Yesterday
morning at 8:00 a.m. we
get the first peek at what I'm
talking about today.
Despite the fact that this piece
of paper had been on
the Alderman's desk, Alderman
LaSpata's desk since
December 15th, 2025. So think
about that. He sat on
this for more than two months
and I had to spend last
month wading 25 pages of legal
text to understand what
I was going to stand up and talk
about today. That's
not my job. That's not our job.
That's your job. So
let's take a step back and say
the obligation is to
care about the details. Imagine
watching the movie
Titanic. I love it. Big ship
nerd. Imagine turning
it off halfway through thinking
that was a great movie
about a guy in a boat. You have
to keep watching and
reading the next part. So on
that note, I want to
read the next part of that
ordinance. So we give that
9 feet to private developer
citing a City Council
determination in 1924. And that
vacates 9 feet of a
public alley to a private entity
who then later sold
it to an additional private
entity. Now, if you
turned the page, the next page
of that City Council
ordinance says that vacation is
subject to a
stipulation that it be used
purely for educational,
charitable, or religious
purposes. Now, I'm not a
lawyer, but I knew to turn the
page and read the next
sentence. And I wonder if we
had turned the page and
read the next sentence of the
parking deal, would we
be in the situation we are today.
We rely on you guys to care
about the details.
And right now there's an
ordinance before you, record
No. 0023201, that relies on
specious and illegal
seizure of public land. And I
shouldn't have to be
the one telling you that. But
the department of law
looked at it and the department
of transportation
looked at it. And nobody
noticed until someone
actually read the next page.
Please be better.
>> Thank you for your comments.
Our next
speaker this morning is Irene
Jordan.
>> Good morning and thank you
for allowing me
this opportunity to speak. My
name is Irene. I am a
current volunteer at Chicago
animal care and control.
I am here today to respectfully
ask that you consider
removing the current
administration. In my
experience, they are failing not
only the animals in
our care but the communities we
are meant to serve.
Speaking out as a volunteer is
incredibly
difficult. Previous volunteers
who raised concerns
were dismissed. And as a
result, many are afraid to
come forward. It is my sincere
hope that there will
be no retaliation against me for
being here today and
advocating for the animals.
CACC needs new leadership, a
director with
strong animal welfare,
expertise, transparency, and
genuine compassion. We cannot
move forward to make
meaningful progress without it.
Under the current
administration, it has become
extremely difficult, if
not impossible, to implement
positive changes.
Volunteers are not heard.
Concerns are dismissed.
And there is a lack of
transparency. The shelter
conditions are unsanitary.
Animals that arrive
healthy are too often leaving on
urgent status due to
illness contracted inside the facility.
Euthanasia rates are alarmingly
high and our
live release rate is
unacceptably low.
I respectfully ask that you
conduct a nationwide
search for an executive -- a new
executive director,
someone with proven experience
in progressive animal
welfare leadership, operational
reform, and community
engagement. Today alder Cruz
and alder Villegas will
be circulate ago letter for a
nationwide search for a
qualified candidate for the
executive director
position. I'm urging you,
everyone, to sign on and
support this effort. We need
the best possible
leadership, not a convenient
appointment.
The animals in our care deserve
better. The
volunteers who dedicate their
time deserve to be
heard. And the residents of
Chicago deserve an animal
care system that reflects
compassion, accountability,
and professionalism. Thank you
to the City Council
members who have chosen to
support us, and we hope
that you continue to support us
even after the recent
appointment. Thank you very
much.
>> Thank you for your comments.
Our speak
comments. Our next
>> Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is the Chicago
conservative.
>> Good morning, City Council.
First I
actually just want to apologize
on behalf of Brandon
Johnson for ignoring the young
lady that was speaking
there for speaking for the
animals rights, and let me
continue here. I was watching
one of your recent
videos of you saying that you
never told a lie.
So
you raise property taxes when
you promised you
wouldn't. You promised that
crime would go down when
it's not. Reports of crime is
down, though, but not
crime within itself. I just
want to let everybody
know that. Crime itself is not
down.
Nobody voted for you to fund
illegal migrants,
Brandon Johnson. And we know
this is happening
because Melissa Hortman, a
Democrat in Minnesota voted
against funding illegal
migrants, the only Democrat,
by the way, and she was murdered
for it. She was
murdered actually by someone
that was appointed by Tim
Walz, sir. I just want to you
think about that as
well. So we know this is
happening. Which is the
main reason why the president is
withholding federal
funds in Chicago, because he is
aphrase that you
will -- he is afraid that you
will fund illegal
migrants. And honestly, I'm
afraid that you will do
that too.
How are you going to allow nine
allow nine (indiscernible)
to be fired when you have 150
police detail and that
migrants. And honestly, I'm
afraid that you will do that too. How are you going to allow nine
(indiscernible) to be fired when you have 150 police detail and that
costs you $22 million a year?
You can't cut a few
cops to save a few jobs? You
mean to tell you your
safety is that important,
Brandon Johnson? Absolutely
disgraceful. Instead you want
to hang out with a
China loving dog shocking
shocking communist like Hasan
pikeer.
Why are you streaming, dude?
People are out here
dying. I'm serious. You were
just on 79th, right?
You saw two dozen shots get let
off. People are dying
out here. You don't got time to
stream. Do you
understand that? And I'm being
serious, dude.
Absolutely disgraceful. You
wanted to fund the
police -- defund the police and
your executive order
means nothing. You cannot hold
federal agents
accountable, BROE. It's called
It's called supremacy cause. That
means federal law is the highest
bro. It's called supremacy
cause. That means federal law is the highest
law of the land. The
executive order that you signed,
that was a waste of
time and ink, if I'm being
being honest with you.
So we are American patriots. We
are Chicago
patriots. How many people have
to die because of your
poor leadership? Watch dogs has
recently found that
we are actually 41.1 billion
dollars of debt. It's
not even 1.5. So where is all
the money going, Mr.
Brandon Johnson? We want to
know that.
And I know it's black history
black history month, ladies and
gentlemen, but Mayor Johnson,
you got to stop being
racist, dude. Like this is a
problem, man. Everybody
is people. We all shared red
blood. I understand
that tribalism is a thing and
stuff like that. But we
are all the same in the eyes of
God, Brandon Johnson.
Stop being racist. It doesn't
look good for you,
that tribalism is a thing and
stuff like that. But we are all the same in the eyes of God, Brandon Johnson.
Stop being racist. It doesn't look good for you, okay?
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker is Rosa
Glerstikas.
>> Good morning. My name is
Rosa Glerstikas
and today alder Cruz and alder
Villegas will circulate
to a director position at
Chicago animal care and
control, CACC. THAPGS to alder
Cruz and Villegas for
their support and thanks to the
alders who have signed
on. We hope you will continue
your commitment even
with the recent appointment.
We're urging additional
alders to sign on before. I'm
speaking on behalf of
CACC volunteers who are afraid
to speak up. They took
an anonymous at CACC and here's
what they have to say.
People have no idea how toxic
the internal culture of
CACC is. It is extremely
politicalized and clicky.
You are either in or out and
that affects your ability
to volunteer. There's a hush
hush culture that
silences volunteers to speak out
about issues in fear
of retaliation. If you are too
loud or unlike for
reasons, they will shut you out
socially or find a way
to get rid of you. I've left in
tears so many times
not just because how heart
breaking it is for the
animals but how I've been
treated by staff and other
volunteers. The lack of strong
leadership at CACC has
allowed toxic personalities
amongst staff and
volunteers to rise and fester.
This has impacted the
volunteer community, fostering
an environment where
we're no longer allowed to
discuss or debate dog
handling policies and
procedures. Feedback is not
wanted, in some cases gets
people suspended or fired.
CACC staff has a my way or the
highway mind set. I'm
afraid of speaking up because of
retaliation. Other
volunteers are clicky and
there's only one volunteer
who I trust and I would consider
a friend. I've been
bullied by volunteers, talked
down to by staff and
kept quiet about the disgusting
conditions inside the
facility although anyone with
eyes can see it's
unsanitary and unsafe. I don't
think the
administration has the best
interest of the animals at
heart. This culture seeps into
every aspect of animal
care and control. Staff and
supervisors rely on
outdated methods that make
already vulnerable animals
even more fearful and stressed.
Dogs are dragged down
hallways and cats are prodded
under the guise of
social. Staff have no training
and small XOT I can
and wildlife other species
without basic necessities.
Enclosures are often smeared
with feces urine and
blood compounding animal
distress. In short freehand
willing and mod ERP humane care
leaving animals to
suffer needlessly. It's a RAEL
toxic environment in
general though a lot of us have
our hearts in the
right places. Lots of
favoritism and nefarious
behavior among certain staff and
certain volunteers,
best policies and practices
don't seem to be followed.
Nor is continued education on
the in shelter steps
welfare. We need a proven lead
WER a proven track
record. A lot of long term
staff do whatever they
want whenever they want and it
has created a divide in
the shelter amongst volunteers.
CACC needs a fresh
start. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much for your
comments. Our
next speaker is Grace
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker is Grace Larson.
>> Hi, I'm grace Larson from
parks for all.
Anyone who has spent even the
smallest amount of time
trying to navigate Chicago's
shelter and housing
system knows just how
insufficient that system is.
I've watched people spend hours
on borrowed phones
trying to find a place in a
shelter only to be told to
call back the next day to start
the process over again.
In further evidence, the city is
failing to
provide for its unhoused
residents I will point to the
fact that we at parks for all
ran our own emergency
warming night, city sponsored
alder office and even
DSFS sent people to us as the
best available option.
Afterwards multiple officers
reached out directly or
indirectly for information about
how we did that.
Despite all of that, we're not
here to ask the city
actually provide for the needs
of its poorest
residents. While obviously it
should, our ask is much
smaller. All that we're here to
ask is that the city
not actively make things worse
by closing legion park.
The first act of the five-year
plan cannot and should
not be a sweep. Sweeps whether
you call them sweeps,
closures, or whatever the name
will be next week, are
horrific. They destroy
property, traumatize everyone
who lives through them, and
leave people isolated and
disconnected from services and
support. No one who
stays and watches the city
employees use heavy
machinery in their own hands, to
rip down tents into
everything someone has into
dumpsters while laughing,
thinks that they're watching
something good. No one
can watch someone cry while they
hold what little they
have and think that it's a
solution.
You can pretend that an AME is
the solution.
But even the most successful
AMEs take months of
preparation to help people
gather documents and then
people wait more months to
actually move into that
housing. The AME that is being
whispered about for
legion is being done without
that preparation and no
real plan to ensure that even
people would be able to
participate. WOT city be
providing translators for
the tag along in that region?
Have the workers THASH
doing the city's outreach even
raised the concern
because the signs posted saying
that the park will be
closed certainly aren't
translated into anything other
than English and Spanish. A
lack of preparation
exposes the AME for what it
obviously is, a way for a
progressive city to pat itself
on its back while
enacting the same cruelty that
we condemn when it
comes from the right. Closures
aren't about
protecting the unhoused.
They're about placating the
wealthy. You see parks not as
public goods but as
their own private playgrounds in
ways to improve their
property value.
They should not be granted final
say over the
well-being of unhoused residents
in this city. Stop
the sweep of legion
property value.
They should not be granted final say over the well-being of unhoused residents
in this city. Stop the sweep of legion park.
>> Thank you very much for your comments. Your
Honor, there are no further
speakers who have timely
signed up for the public comment
period.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. That
completes the portion of our
meeting for public
comments.
Before we get to our
resolutions, in our
acknowledgments, I would like to
make a few remarks
regarding the late great
reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr,
who we lost yesterday at which
point after my remarks,
I would ask that this body join
me in a moment of
silence in his memory. And I do
know that this body
will continue to honor reverend
Jackson's life and
legacy at the next City Council
meeting. You know,
yesterday our nation lost one of
the most
consequential civil rights
leaders of our time.
Reverend Jesse Jackson, senior,
was not just a great
humanitarian, but he was a
freedom fighter and a
towering voice for justice. To
me he was a dear
friend, a mentor, and a role
model. As organizer as
at the time I was campaigning, I
could always count on
him for advice, prayers, and
words of encouragement.
But his family was also
available to me. I do
remember a personal note when I
was experiencing one
of the more difficult times in
my time as an organizer
in this city, and Reverend
Jackson reminded me that
before people were on that at
his bridge, it took an
awful lot to organize city to
city to get to Selma.
And that today everybody and
their mother was on that
bridge, but in reality, it
wasn't the case. That in
most instances, transformation
and change takes place
by just the work of a hand few.
This was guidance had a profound
impact on me
and my family, and I'm grateful
to him forever. Our
entire city owes Reverend
Jackson a debt of gratitude
for his life's work. Reverend
Jackson's impact is
felt around the world as he shed
light on issues of
injustice, here at home and
abroad. But here in
Chicago, we were blessed with
the Reverend Jackson's
presence and his local
leadership. Reverend Jackson
was called to lead Operation
Bread Basket in Chicago
by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. In 1964 and he
fought for the people of Chicago
ever since. Together
Dr. King and reverend Jackson
made Chicago a battle
ground for fair housing, equity,
and economic justice.
They spread a message of
empowerment, equality, and
justice worldwide. And when Dr.
King was gone,
Reverend Jackson courage usly
carried the movement
forward. Reverend Jackson later
founded the rainbow
push coalition and cemented his
role as a Chicago
based national civil rights
leader changing our city
forever. His mission centered
around the mission of
the black community, his message
and KAES extended to
all who needed empowerment. And
no matter what the
issue or challenge, he stood on
the side of working
people, consistently affirmed
their humanity by
fighting for equal access for
education, housing,
employment, and of course for
health care. In doing
so, he cultivated a rainbow of
power that could
weather any storm. Reverend
Jackson worked towards
equality and justice for decades
and decades and still
his impact will live on. He
helped raise millions of
dollars for college
scholarships. He registered
millions of new voters during
his historic
presidential runs and he
provided economic ERM
POURMENT and opportunities for
so many people. Those
actions create a ripple effect
throughout our
communities and spanning for
empowerment
and opportunities for so many people. Those actions create a ripple effect
throughout our communities and spanning for generations
reverend Jackson SPEPT his
life uplifting others because
according to him, we are
all somebody. He preached that
the flame exists in
all of us and we have the power
to ignite and unify
that flame in our neighbors and
secure a future where
we can all thrive.
As we lift up his life and wrap
our arms around
his loved ones, let us honor
reverend Jackson with
action. He believed in humanity
and progress against
all odds. And we all should
strive to do the same.
We can best honor RERND Jackson
by certainly keeping
hope alive and active. We do
that by organizing with
our neighbors, advocating on
their behalf and
investing in the people of our
beloved city. In the
loving memory of reverend
Jackson, let us go forth in
building a just, equitable and
thriving city and a
nation, certainly stand on the
shoulders of his life
today. In closing, I would like
to challenge all of
us to pray for Mrs. Jackson,
their children, of course
and their dear grandchildren. I
pray for every one
who had the great privilege of
knowing him and working
with him and most of all, loving
Reverend Jackson. So
thank you. And now, if you
would, please join me in a
standing moment of silence.
Thank you, and again I
appreciate the body's
commitment to honoring Reverend
Jackson's life and
legacy in the next City Council
meeting.
First I would like to ask leave
for this body to
allow clerk Valencia to address
this body to honor
ICHLT melda Salazar from
swap Chicago to the chamber.
Leave? Very well. Madam Clerk.
I
melda Salazar from swap Chicago to the chamber. Leave? Very well. Madam Clerk.
The chair recognizes
Alderwoman Mitts.
>> EMMA MITTS: Mr. President,
I'd like to be
added for the purpose of the
quorum roll call.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. The
chair recognizes Alderman
Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I want to
be recorded as
present for purposes of quorum.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Chair
recognizes
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I want to
be recorded as present for purposes of quorum. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Chair
recognizes Alderman Napolitano.
>> I too would like to be
recorded as present
for roll call.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
chair recognizes
Alderman Vasquez.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Thank you,
Mr. President. I
would request the same, just to
be counted for roll call.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
chair recognizes
Alderman Gardiner.
>> JAMES GARDINER: Same,
believes. Present.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Curtis.
>> DERRICK CURTIS: I'd like to
be recorded as
present, as quorum.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderwoman Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Mr. President,
I'd like to be
recorded as present. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Alder
Gutierrez.
>> JEYLU GUTIERREZ: I would
also like to be
recorded as present.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Please
add all of those members. Alder
>> JEYLU GUTIERREZ: I would
also like to be recorded as present. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Please add all of those members. Alder Robin son.
>> I would like to be added for
attendance.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Madam
Clerk, please add all those
members to the quorum am
>> I would like to be added for
attendance. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you. Madam
Clerk, please add all those members to the quorum am roll call. Madam Clerk.
>> Today I have the honor of
elevating a true
civic leader and celebrate her
well-deserved
retirement for over 25 years. I
melda Salazar.
Please stand, I melda.
She has served her community and
our city with
strength, compassion, focus, and
shared determination.
She has dedicated her life's
work to advocating and
supporting our immigrant
communities, making sure our
residents were seen for their
humanity and their
rights were protected. Thanks
to Imelda's work and
leadership, all immigrants have
access to a driver's
license, regardless of
immigration status.
Undocumented seniors adults have
access to health
care, a creation of the Chicago
legal protection fund,
the nation's first city-funded
immigrant legal defense
program. She played a central
role in reclaiming
southwest, a long-term
initiative that has
rehabilitated hundreds of
abandoned properties into
affordable owner occupied homes
and neighborhoods,
including Chicago lawn, gauge
park, and west lawn.
She contributed to reclaiming
Chicago community led
effort to build or
rehad a HABL TAT 2004 homes on
the
west side. Her advocacy also
created a division of
the Cook County public
defender's office and helped
keep dozens of families together
preventing
deportations. But more than any
of her
accomplishments -- and there are
many -- she has
always remained in the
background. Never boasting or
bragging about her work, always
willing to let others
shine, lifting up the work of
other community
navigators, leaders, and elected
officials. She has
always shown up to celebrate
others. And today is her
day to stand in the sun and to
be recognized and
remembered for not just her work
but for who she is.
She is a faith driven, kind,
persistent warrior who
will leave behind prepared war
prepared warriors prepared and
RAED
to take up the mantle of
justice. I know many of
these leaders and their future
is certainly brighter
knowing they have been prepared
by Imelda. As you
transition to your next chapter
and journey I hope you
remember Mark 25 verse 21. Well
21. Well done, good and
faithful servant. You have made
us all proud and we
knowing they have been prepared
by Imelda. As you transition to your next chapter and journey I hope you
remember Mark 25 verse 21. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have made
us all proud and we are grateful for your service. knowing they have been prepared
by Imelda. As you transition to your next chapter and journey I hope you
remember Mark 25 verse 21. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have made
us all proud and we are grateful for your service. (Speaking in Spanish).
Thank you.
(Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
u Madam Clerk.
I now -- thank you, Madam Clerk.
Now chairman
Hopkins -- the chair recognizes
Alderman Quinn.
>> MARTY QUINN: Thank you, Mr.
Mayor. I would
be remiss not to offer words for
words for Imelda. I have known
you for 25 years. We have
worked on a lot of things
together. You are a great
Chicagoan. Thank you for
everything you've done for the
west lawn community.
Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
Westlawn community.
Thank you. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you. Alderman
Gutierrez.
>> JEYLU GUTIERREZ: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Alderman Gutierrez.
>> JEYLU GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Mr. President.
Alderman Gutierrez.
>> JEYLU GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Mr. President.
Imelda (speaking in Spanish).
Being bilingual is her
super power and I know you have
that one too. And we
really appreciate you so much.
We love you dearly and
we're going to miss you, but we
would love to thank
you. There's no words I could
explain and could thank
you enough for all the great
work you've done, not
only for the southwest side of
Chicago, but for the
whole city. This precious
(inaudible) that we have.
Thank you for your advocacy,
thank you for staying
strong. Thank you for all your
work, and let's
continue to build together,
because I know whatever
you're going to be, you're going
to keep fighting and
keep us posted on your next
endeavor. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Chairman
Hopkins would like to honor at
the Rebelski, 40 years
of service with the chef field
neighborhood
association board. The chair
recognizes Alderman
Hopkins.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President. I
rise in support of a good friend
and neighbor in my
ward and in the community that I
happen to live in,
Shefffield neighborhood
association. At the Robleski
first moved to the community in
1975 and he promptly
fell in love with his
neighborhood and he did what
all
good civic leaders do when you
fall in love with the
community. You ask yourself
what is it about this
neighborhood that makes me love
it so and how can I
make those things better? And
he promptly dedicated
the next 45 years of his life as
a civic leader, as a
lawyer, and as a resident of
Lincoln Park to enhancing
the community in every way that
a person possibly can.
He is now stepping down from the
board of
Sheffield neighbors after 45
years of outstanding
service and we couldn't let this
moment pass with not
only an acknowledgment for his
outstanding work and
contributions which are evident
to anyone who knows
the area, the involvement in
development proposals and
questions of consequence for a
growing neighborhood
like Lincoln Park, it never
ends. There's always
something to get involved in.
There's always
questions and controversies,
even arguments. And at
the shied away from none of
them. And consistently
did the right thing on behalf of
his neighbors for 45 years.
So we honor him today with this
resolution, and
I would also like to yield to my
neighbor, 43 rd ward,
Alderman Timy Knudsen who
represents the other half of
the area. Mr. Chair, if you
would.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: I
would. Chair
recognizes Alderman Knudsen.
>> TIMOTHY KNUDSEN: Thank u Mr.
Mayor and I
want to echo what he said which
is a huge con GRATS to
at the on so many years of
service and commitment. In
addition to service and
commitment as alder Hopkins
mentioned, at the brought a real
expertise to all the
projects that he represented on
on the Sheffield
neighbors and the community is
better because of it.
As alder Hopkins mentioned it
wasn't only Sheffield,
it was so many other groups and
talk to go at the
today, we've got another meeting
with DePaul. I know
that Ted's service is going
nowhere. It's shown when
you walk through the
neighborhood and I'm just
grateful for you, ted and I want
to say thank you to
all the neighbors who came to
congratulate Ted. And
also one more, mayor, to
acknowledge former alder
person DAEL who used to sit in
this seat who is in
aley who used to sit in this
seat who is in
chambers. Via has four
privileges. I reminded her of
that and I'm hoping she comes
down a little bit. But
congratulations,s Ted and thank
you, alder Hopkins.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Is there
anything else, alder Hopkins.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President. I
would ask for the form of round
of applause for Mr.
Robleski and approve it in the
omnibus. (Applause)
.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Waguespack,
did you wish to say a few words?
>> SCOTT WAGUESPACK: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Sorry, Alderman. I also want to
congratulate Ted on
the great work that he's done
over several decades.
And I would -- don't know
exactly how many but he's
probably worked with a good
dozen aldermen in that
area, which shows his longevity
and his commitment
over many different mayors but
also aldermen and all
the time that I've worked with
him, he's been a great
person to work with with the
entire board and the type
of person that we need in each
one of our neighborhood
groups that really KIEF bolsters
the community and
makes sure it functions as we
want the whole city.
Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
u and thank
you, again, Ted and you got a
chance to hang out with
buddy guy. What a gift. Very
well. Let's give it up
one more time for Ted. Please.
Thank you, sir.
Chairwoman Harris would like to
welcome Americor young
adults on their quarterly visit
to City Hall.
Alderwoman Harris.
>> MICHELLE HARRIS: Good
morning. I'm honored
to welcome city year here today.
On a real personal
note, this organization has been
more than helpful to
my community. They have
volunteered for events all
across the eighth ward. So I
really want to say thank
you to them for what they do.
But Dr. Palmer Pratt,
who is over there working there,
is a young lady I've
known for far too many years and
I'm not even going to
go back and tell people how old
I am. But I'm happy
that she's here now and it makes
me really happy to
see her today. So today they
brought 18 city Corps
MEMENT with them for the City
Council meeting for
those that don't know city year
Chicago serves 30
schools across the Chicagoland
area and Americorp
members, many of the
responsibilities that they're
instilling in these young folks,
confidence,
perseverance and helping
students allowing them the
opportunity to develop skills,
such as tenacity and
compassion, leadership and hard
work. The impact of
city year AmeriCorps members is
truly transformative
and they work in some of the
most complex and
underresourced environments in
our city, striving to
understand firsthand the
challenges that students face
and the power of consistent
(inaudible) support. So
let's give them -- make you all
stand, do some
homework. Come on, let's stand
and give these young
folks an applause for their
commitment, their service,
to develop the next generation
(Applause)I'd like to
thank my colleagues and thank
you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you,
Alderwoman Harris. Next up was
up was Alderwoman Lee. She's
going to honor let's boogy
records and tapes. Chair
recognizes Alderwoman Lee.
>> NICOLE LEE: Thank you, Mr.
President, and I
appreciate the opportunity to
today welcome to City
Council Jason Keller, who is the
son of Neal Keller,
the founder of let's boogie for
50 years. So first
and foremost I want to thank you
and your family for
continuing to have your business
in our neighborhood.
It's a rarity that we see
businesses open as long as
your business has been. And it
is iconic on Halsted.
So I look forward to visiting
with you on the actual
anniversary in March. Really thrilled to have you
here. I'm sorry that your
mother couldn't make it to
be with us today and I know
thoughts of your father
Neal, today especially and when
we celebrate in March
will be with everybody. Thank
you again and con GRAT
and
congratulations on the big
anniversary.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Congratulations,
thank you, Alderwoman Lee.
Chairman Ervin would like
to welcome reverend marshal
hatch Jr. In the
redemption project to its annual
visit to City Hall.
>> JASON ERVIN: Thank you, Mr.
President and
members of the council. As the
mayor stated we have
with us the redemption project
from the West Garfield
Park community. If you all
would stand to be
recognized as well as their
executive director,
reverend marshal hatch Jr. Who
has been honored as one
of Times 100 leaders in our
country so I want to
welcome them and give them a
hand. Let me say this.
The work that Mahafa has done in the West Garfield
Park community, the lives that
they have touched, the
lives they have changed, I've
seen some of the hardest
people that I experience in the
West Garfield Park's
communities hearts change to God
in the work that
they're doing so they're to be
welcomed and commended
for the work this they're doing
in our community.
Thank you. (Applause)
.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, chairman
Ervin. Chairwoman Hadden would
like to congratulate
Joe McCarthy for being a senior
forester as being part
of the Chicago streets and
sanitation. The chair well
comes alder Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Thank you, Mr.
President.
It's with bitter sweet feelings
that I rise to
recognize Joe McCarthy,
nicknamed Beatle Joe. For
those of you who have dealt with
tree issues, all of
my colleagues, I think you know
trees are maybe one of
our most surprisingly
controversial issues Joe
started
on what he thought might be a
temporary job and has
spent more than 35 years serving
the residents of the
City of Chicago with kindness,
with patience, and with
expertise. He is an expert in
urban forestry which
wasn't even a field. I think he
told us when he
exited college, urban forestry
didn't really exist.
I've had the pleasure of working
with Joe in his role
on our urban forestry advisory
board. He's been a
mentor and just a fountain of
knowledge for residents,
for alder people, for staff.
And Joe, we really
appreciate the 35 plus years
that you've given to this
city. Thank you.
(Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Okay.
Joe, you
might get two standing ovations.
The chair recognizes
Alderman O'Shea. He's not
finished yet.
>> MATTHEW O'SHEA: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I, too, stand in support of this
resolution. I won't
say anything near as prophetic
as my colleague,
Alderman Hadden, to warrant a
standing ovation, but I
can tell you Joe McCarthy in his
35 plus dedicated
years to the City of Chicago and
the bureau of
forestry as part of the streets
and sanitation has
been an exemplary leader. At a
time when our tree
academy was facing a very
serious threat many years
ago, Asian long horn beatthat
some of you might
remember, it was mayor Daley
that tasked Joe McCarthy
yet on this and helped us save
as many trees as we can
etle that some of you might
remember, it was mayor Daley that tasked Joe McCarthy yet on this and helped us save
as many trees as we can
Joe hails from the 19th ward.
He's a product of St.
Rita and actually he graduated
in four years. But
Joe
McCarthy is someone that all of
us should be proud of,
a city worker that always did
what was best for the
taxpayers, always did what was
best for government and
was so dedicated, as many of us
could attest, we could
call Joe at night. We could
call Joe on a weekend.
He was the one that went out and
made sure when we
were doing major projects
involving water management
or people's gas where they'd be
disturbing earth, that
he would save as many trees as
possible. And somebody
that's very proud of the tree
tree can pi in my community,
I appreciate his dedication.
Thank you, Mr. President.
that's very proud of the tree
can pi in my community, I appreciate his dedication. Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you.
>> Congratulations, Joe.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Quinn,
would you like your lick back?
No, you're good. We
do have a couple of resolutions
today. One resolution
we'll be celebrating black
history month the other is
a memorial celebration for BREN
DA
Langstrat Bui and
could you move for the temporary
suspension of rural.
No objections, so ordered in the
interest of time we
will for go the reading and go
straight to remarks for
our first, we recognize Alderman
Lamont robin son.
>> LAMONT ROBINSON: Thank you,
Mr. Mayor, good
morning colleagues and members
of the public. Today I
rise with great pride and honor
to
honor a living
ledge end, a son of Louisiana
who helped define the
sound of Chicago, Mr. Buddy
Guy.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Just
a second. Mr.
Buddy Guy, we do want to give
you an opportunity to
speak. But if you would allow
us to give you the last
word, final word, if that's
okay. I know you got --
basically he's saying I got to
hurry up is what he's
saying. We got you. We want to
let these alders
speak briefly and then we'll
give you a chance to
address the body. All right,
Lamont, now you heard
him. He's ready to go.
>> LAMONT ROBINSON: For decades
Buddy Guy has
carried the torch of Chicago
blues across the nation
and around the world. He
unmistakably is soul, Mr.
Mayor. His guitar style
emotional story telling
fearless presence didn't just
retain audiences. They
shaped America and America's
music from influencing
rock icons to mentoring the next
generation of
artists, his fingerprints are
all over the sound track
of modern music. But what makes
this moment
especially meaningful in
Chicago's role is his
story.
See, the city became the home
where his sound
electrified, evolved and echoed
far beyond our
borders. The blues are not just
music here. They are
a history, resilience, migration
and cultural
experiences. Woven into the
fabric of neighborhoods
across the south and west sides.
I would say also
north and east side. Buddy Guy
represents more than
musical excellence. He
represents perseverance. He
help innovation. He represents
the power of culture
to tell stories when words alone
fall short. As we
honor him today, we are also
honoring Chicago's legacy
as the world capitol of the
blues.
(Applause). A
city that continues to nurture
creativity, celebrate
authenticity, and inspire
generations to pick up a
guitar, step on stage, and tell
their truths.
I would
be remiss if I did not thank the
Guy family who is
here with us today for allowing
us to have him and to
keep his living legacy alive
right in the fourth ward
at Buddy Guy's legends at 700
south Wabash. Mr. Guy,
on behalf of the City Council,
on behalf of the City
of Chicago and the fourth ward,
thank you for your
artistry, your influence, and
your lifelong
contribution to America's music.
Your legacy will
continue to ring out loud and
proud for years to come.
Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you.
(Applause). Alderman Ervin.
Very well. Alderman
Curtis.
>> DERRICK CURTIS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I, too, rise to support
support this -- support this
resolution. I want to thank my
colleague for bringing
this forward. I've had the
pleasure growing up in the
blues and the blues right in my
heart. And actually
performing under so many great
performers under his
leadership, Joe Pratt, Mike
Wheeler, killer RAI AL son
ay AL son
who used to be his drummer and I
actually was talking
with his son probably a year ago
last year and we was
trying to make this moment
happen on his birthday last
Allison who used to be his
drummer and I actually was talking with his son probably a year ago last year and
we was trying to make this moment happen on his
birthday last year but of course
we didn't do that.
But it's such a pleasure for you
to be honored now.
On your -- what is this, 89th or
90? 90 years old
Buddy Guy today. (Applause)
(Applause).
If you guys -- they have so many
movies out of
his life story. One of them is
called centers. If
you guys get an opportunity to
watch that, it's a life
story of what his life was like
coming up in the south
and coming here to Chicago.
Thank you so much for
being the icon that you are.
Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you.
(Applause). Alderman
Sigcho-Lopez.
>> BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Thank
you, Mr.
President. I'll be brief. But
as a friend of the
family, I'm honored to recognize
the important con
TRIB UKSs of buddy --
contributions to Buddy Guy in
our city, the history, the
legacy of blues is alive
and well, embodied here among
us. I want to recognize
the distinguished family for
being here with us with a
number of initiatives that
continue to fight for
Chicago, Chicago for all so I
would be remiss to not
make this a public ask. I know
Buddy Guy has been a
man of music but also a man of
history and he want to
make sure we work that that
history is imprinted in
our books and curriculum so the
next generation can
learn about blues and about the
history of resistance
of how Chicago through music,
through art, continued
to fight and there's no one else
who exemplifies that
but Buddy Guy, our good friend,
our ally, including in
communities where his family
does a lot of work to
work with prevention
programming, to fight violence
but also to give us the history
that today is more
important than ever. So on
behalf of the 25th ward,
my family, my wife is a big fan
as well. She enjoyed
her birthday with him. So I
want to wish you of
course many more years. I'm'
blessed to be with you
here to recognize you today in
City Council. So thank
you, Buddy Guy, for your
contributions. I will make
sure that we make sure it is
imprinted in our
curriculum and our history for
the many generation
toss remember Buddy Guy and the
blues legend of
Chicago, a Chicago icon. Thank
you so much.
(Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you.
Alderwoman Mitts.
>> EMMA MITTS: Thank you, Mr.
President. I,
too, stand and rise in honor of
the legacy of Mr.
Buddy Guy. Mr. Buddy Guy is
known in the south.
Mississippi, Greenwood,
Mississippi, Arkansas. I
happened to go down there one
time and he was on the
plant and having to see Buddy
Guy. Buddy Guy runs so
deep in my family, from my
grandparents to my aunts,
all of them who passed away now,
but he was the man.
Even as a child coming up, it
was Buddy Guy. And his
trip journey to Chicago,
Illinois. I think we start
off just playing with some
buckets or something, you
know, beating on sticks. That's
what they did in the
south. They -- we didn't have
no instruments. But
they learn how they work music.
And it's amazing what
you can do when you don't have
things and how you can
take it and make something. But
the history of a
man -- I saw a sign down at
Mississippi, Buddy Guy,
you know, known right there
around Emmett Till's
memorial service of Mr. Guy. He
He -- his legacy is one
that we all should remember
because if we knew gospel,
you know blues. And that's what
we knew before we hip
hopping anything else came
along. So thank you, Mr.
Guy. Blues is my favorite right
now, so I wish I
could get you to sing a tune
while he's here, but I
know how to meet you over there
at that club. You got
a time Tyrone make sure I get
over there every once in
a while if I want to hear some
blues to take off the
stress and I come and hear you
play. So
congratulations. Continue the
great work that you're
doing. You're inspiring the
life of many, and even
the younger generation are
looking to Buddy Guy
because they hear the older ones
talk about it all the
time. So thank you so much.
And God bless you and
the family. You should be very
proud. Thanks.
(Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderwoman Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Thank you, Mr.
President. I,
too, stand in support of this
resolution. I want to
thank you for being here, Mr.
Guy. Plus one, what
everybody said, right? Living
legend. But I also
want to congratulate you for
starting off our Black
history month 2026 with your
ninth gramy.
Grammy.
Congratulations. Thank you.
Just thank you for your
continued contributions like
American music, global
music and black excellence.
Happy black history month
and thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alder
Black excellence. Happy Black
history month and thank you. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alder Vasquez.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Thank you
very much, Mr.
President. I will keep it as
brief as possible
because there's not much I can
add that hasn't already
been said. We know you're not
only the soul for
this -- I would add as someone
who was transformed
through hip hop music, started
as a rapper and got
here to City Council, that music
wouldn't exist if it
wasn't for everything you did
and sample your music to
continue that legacy as well.
So it's -- the amount
of lives that you've saved and
changed just through
your music, I just wanted to
make sure you ated that
to the list of achievements. I
don't know what the
number is. It's immense and
remarkable and thank you
for saving a lot of our lives.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome.
Alderman Moore.
>> DAVID MOORE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
When you have history in your
presence, when you have
a legend in your presence, you
just cannot be silent.
All I can do is just say thank
you. Thank you. Thank
you. And you are appreciated.
Know that. And I want
a picture before you leave here.
And the reason --
no, the reason why I say that,
that, I usually don't, and
it's not about, yeah, I am a
fan, but it's more about
the history. I remember me
taking Barack -- president
Barack Obama to coffee sips and
things like that when
he was a state senator. And
then when he was
running -- when he ran for
Congress, I don't want to
get into that picture stuff.
You've got to tell the
history. If Dr. King had not
taken pictures, if
Reverend Jackson had not taken
pictures, then the
story cannot be told for
generations to come. And so
we just want to continue to tell
the story. And I
just want to say thank you, much
obliged, tata.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Thank
you all.
Leave from the body to give the
opportunity for
Buddy Guy, it's been moved. And
once you finish, Mr.
Guy, Alderwoman Mitts has
requested a solo of which
you're not KSH you're not
-- you're not obligated to do
that but for
a cover charge, maybe you can
help us balance our
budget. Oh, sorry, is that too
soon? All right.
Leave granted. Mr. Buddy Guy,
but for a cover charge, maybe you can
help us balance our budget. Oh, sorry, is that too soon? All right.
Leave granted. Mr. Buddy Guy, the floor is yours.
but for
a cover charge, maybe you can help us balance our budget. Oh, sorry, is that too
soon? All right. Leave granted. Mr. Buddy Guy,
but for
a cover charge, maybe you can help us balance our budget. Oh, sorry, is that too
soon? All right. Leave granted. Mr. Buddy Guy, the floor is yours.
>> Thank you. I'm not much of a
speaker, but I
want to appreciate and I thank
all of y'all for what
you've given me. But there's
one thing I wanted to
say I didn't hear tonight is
that the world capitol of
the blues is Chicago.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
That's
you've given me. But there's
one thing I wanted to say I didn't hear tonight is that the world capitol of
the blues is Chicago. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: That's right.
>> A guy can be jealous. When I
look at
Nashville, Texas, New Orleans,
where those great
musicians I don't see a picture
of neither one that
made Chicago what it is
today. Harold wolf,
wolf, little
WAULTer, sony Williams, I could
go there tomorrow but
alter, sony Williams, I could go
there tomorrow but
I'm not going to do that. But
I'd like to see stat
use or something to let you all
know that Chicago is
the world capitol of the blues.
Thank you.
Sonny Williams, I could go there tomorrow but I'm not going to do that. But
I'd like to see stat use or something to let you all know that Chicago is
the world capitol of the blues. Thank you.
(Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Just
a quick little
shout out to all the folks that
are with him, Gregory
guy, Victoria guy, GREER guy,
Nicholas guy, Nelson
guy, which ANG a, thank you all
for being here again
and congratulations, Mr. Buddy
Guy.
reer guy, Nicholas guy, Nelson
guy, which ANG a, thank you all for being here again and congratulations, Mr. Buddy
Guy. Very well. As
the family prepares to leave the
box, there are --
Bianca, thank you all for being
here again and congratulations, Mr. Buddy Guy. Very well. As the
family prepares to leave the box, there are -- there's
one other person that we are
honoring for Black
history month by the Black
caucus. And as Alderman
Moore receives his
photo and -- there's like a
little
line there, and it's pretty
cool.
The next person that we will be
be honoring for
Black history month, honoring
William J. Kates and his
family and celebrating the
legacy of Barbara McGowen,
who is unable to join us here to
us here
today. Very quell.
Alderwoman Coleman has requested
to provide opening
remarks for the next one. Very
well. Very well.
Alderwoman Harris.
>> MICHELLE HARRIS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I rise to be associated with
this resolution. Mr.
Kates has been an integral part
of my career from day
one because of his relationship
with Larry Huggins.
And because of that, I've had
the opportunity of
getting to know him on a very
personal level, his wife
and his daughters, who are
amazing women. And I have
been so fulfilled because Mr.
Cates does so much for
everybody. And he asks for zero
in return.
He's the
most giving supportive person
businessman that I've
met other than
Larry. And so today, Mr.
Cates, I'd
like to give you some flowers
while you are yet alive
to get them and say how grateful
I am that you are
here and that you continue to be
supportive of African
American leaders, political
leaders, throughout the
city, the state, and the county.
And so today I'd
like to say thank you for being
so generous and so
giving of all your resources, no
matter what they are.
And I'm grateful today that
you're getting to hear how
people feel about you, that we
love you, we love your
family, we thank you for all the
things that you do
for the City of Chicago. Thank
you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you.
Alderwoman Lee.
>> NICOLE LEE: Thank you, Mr.
President. I,
too, rise in support of this
resolution. Mr. Cates,
it's so great to see you here in
council. I've had
the great pleasure of getting to
know you since I
started here on council. And
I'm here to say thank
you for supporting me. I am not
an African American
member of council or a political
leader of any sort of
of any sort
like that. But you took a
chance on me and you've
been so supportive. And I
really want to thank you as
a leader in the City of Chicago
for not only being a
successful business person but
growing your business.
You employ hundreds of people in
the City of Chicago.
And that's not a -- that's not a
small thing. I know
Mr. Huggins understands this,
right? It's not a small
thing to do, especially in an
environment where things
are very challenging and the
type of work that you do.
Because I know it's not easy to
hire security people.
Those are tough jobs. But
they're good-paying jobs.
They give people careers and
they give people
opportunity. I think all too
often we don't celebrate
our business leaders enough
because you are a big part
of the reason why we have a
vibrant economy, by what
people have clothes on their
back and roofs over their
heads. It's so important. So I
thank you not only
for your commitment to the
business community but to
the community at large. You are
someone to look up
to. And thank you to your
daughters and your family
for carrying that on. So
hopefully we're going to be
celebrating a hundred years of
this down the road. I
probably won't be here for that,
but I wish you all
the best and thank you for all
of your contributions.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you.
Alderwoman Dowell.
>> PAT DOWELL: Thank you, Mr.
Mayor. I had to
rush back in the room to
congratulate Mr. Cates and
the Cates family. We go kind of
way back, thanks to
Deshawn. It's been a pleasure
honoring you today for
Black history month. Thank you
for all that you do
for the City of Chicago. Thank
you for taking care of
the people in my ward and in
other wards across the
city. Thank you for your work.
Larry, nice to see
you too. I know you two are
like birds of a feather
flock together, you know. So
it's good to see you
all. But congratulations and
happy Black history month.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you,
Alderwoman. Alderman Ervin.
Ervin. 21.
>> JASON ERVIN: I'm sorry. Mr.
Cates, first
off, thank you for all that
you've done for our
community. A lot of people I've
talked to in the
business say they have gotten
their start from you.
Lots of people not only just
started with you but have
grown and developed their own
businesses with you.
Not one to hold anybody back,
not one to poo-poo on
their plans but have allowed
people to just grow that
I've seen in our community.
Secondly, you're probably
one of the sharpest dressers
that we have in our city.
And I believe you have a style
that is -- that we just
don't see anymore. You are old
school personified and
do our community proud, not only
in how you look but
how you act, how you work, and
how you represent us.
It is -- we've never had a
challenge or an issue
regarding the service that you
provide or the people
that you have sent to provide
the service that we need
in many of our developments in
the community. So
again, as our chairperson, I'm
sure will state, as far
as giving you your flowers while
you can yet smell
them, because again we have all
these conversations at
funerals and you can't hear what
we have to say then.
So I'm glad that we have had an
opportunity today to
honor you in a form, in a format
that is befitting to
the type of person and character
that you have brought
the city and brought our
community. Thank you and
you and God bless you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman Moore.
>> DAVID MOORE: Thank you, Mr.
President. I
definitely stand in support of
this resolution. I
want to honor Mr. Larry Huggins,
who's also sitting in
the box. Thank you for
your service. You know you're
just all right with me every day
of the week and
continue to do what you do. I
had the pleasure of
just meeting your beautiful
wife, and man, I told you
back there, you did a good job.
You got a good eye.
But we can all talk about your
business and that's
great. Bottom line, it speaks
for itself. But I
don't think a lot of people know
how much of a caring
person you are. And that's what
I most love about you
and want people to know. You
truly care about people.
It's not just about getting
contracts and getting
money. I am a person -- I want
to continue to make
Black millionaires, but you do
it like the Bible say,
to those who have much, much is
required. And that's
what you do. You go out there
and you look to help
what we say the least of those.
So thank you on
behalf of the 17th ward
residents for all that you do.
Man, I appreciate you and I love you. Bless you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Curtis.
behalf of the 17th ward
residents for all that you do. Man, I appreciate you and I love you. Bless you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you. Alderman Curtis.
>> DERRICK CURTIS: . Thank you,
Mr. President.
I, too, rise to support this
resolution. Mr. Bill
Cates, there's no words to
express my appreciation and
gratitude for you. I mean, you
and your
Charlie's
angels, I call your girls,
they're the ones who keep
you motivated and running like
crazy. I got both of
my great friends, my two
favorite, also Larry Huggins,
we gave him his flowers not long
ago. But it was so
fitting for you to be sitting
here today. You've
always been a really,
really good person. And you
never have a frown on your face.
You're always just
smiling. And sometimes I look
at people to see if
they even have that evil streak
in them. Again, but I
see your girls and I know that
they keep you in line.
But thank you so much for all
the things that you do,
again for the City of Chicago.
You have touched so
many lives in this chamber. I
know because I see you
everywhere. So thank you for
being who you are, and
you're just an awesome example
of what young men
should grow up to be. So thank
you so much. Thank
you so much. You guys are like
two peas in a pod
because you do the same thing.
You just go around to
do the best you can for others,
and that means a lot.
Thank you so much. Thank you,
Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome. All
right. Alderwoman Coleman has
requested to be the
final speaker. If there are no
other hands, chair
recognizes Alderman Robinson.
>> LAMONT ROBINSON: Before I
get into my
remarks, I want to say hello to
uncle Larry for being
in the house. Thank you, Uncle
Larry. We love you.
Good to see you.
Mr. Cates, you probably didn't
see that we had
about 20 young men here. I wish
that they would have
stayed because you are the
example of what these young
people need to see. An African
American businessman
who can hold on to your talents,
your resources, your
mentorship, but you spread all
that love across the
City of Chicago. And we are
grateful for you. To the
family, to your lovely wife and
your daughter sitting
next to you, as I mentioned to
Buddy Guy, to his
family, thank you for allowing
us to have your
father,
your husband, Mr. Cates, really
365 days a year, 24/7.
I don't know if Mr. Cates ever
sleeps. And Mr. Cates,
on this special occasion, we
heard that you had to
turn a plane around because a
young lady sitting next
to her, it's her special
birthday. And so happy
birthday to you again
again. It shows your love for
the
City of Chicago and your love
for your husband for
allowing him to be with us
today. And so thank you,
Miss Cates. Enjoy your special
day. Mr. Cates, we
love you and we appreciate you
and we honor you. God
bless you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Taliaferro.
>> CHRIS TALIAFERRO: Thank you,
Mr. President,
and members of the council. I,
too, rise in support
of this resolution. Honoring
some of Chicago's icons.
I like to thank each and every
one of our honorees,
Mr. Cates, Mr. Guy and of course
Mr. Larry Huggins.
And my good friend, Commissioner
Barbara
McGowan, for
leaving such a great legacy in
the City of Chicago, in
our Black community, in our
Black neighborhoods. It
is always great that we can look
at the lives of
others and give them an example
of -- to our children,
an example of excellence. And I
thank you for
providing that example to my
children and so many
others throughout the city. And
to my good friend,
Commissioner McGowan, who could
not join us today, I
say thank you. Commissioner
McGowan has been a great
friend, a mentor and a leader,
not only on the west
side of Chicago, but she's been
an example of great
leadership and friendship to the
entire city. So I
want to thank her for that. And
thank you all for the
leadership and the support
you've provided all of us
throughout the years. Thank
you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Villegas.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I, too, want to stand in support
of this resolution.
And thank you for bringing up
all these honorees. And
I just -- I looked in the box
and I saw Mr. Huggins
there. And I felt remiss to say
something. I mean,
Mr. Huggins has been a leader in
this city, not just
from a philanthropic side but
also from a construction
side. He has -- when he started
a company and did a
lot of joint ventures with
majority owned companies,
and really set the tone on how
minority business
enterprises disadvantaged
business enterprises, have
the band width and the ability
to perform on multi
million dollar projects
successfully, despite the fact
that there is -- majority owned
firms that wanted to
see firms like Huggins
construction fail. He set the
tone and as a result of that and
he was a trailblazer
in that category of joint
ventures. Now we see many
joint venture companies that
look like Mr. Huggins as
well as other minority
women-owned firms. So I just
wanted to say thank you for your
leadership. And
really staying in there, despite
the fact that
people -- people didn't want to
see you there. So
congratulations for being
recognized this month and
continued success, Mr. Huggins.
Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, Alderman.
All right. Seeing no other
hands, the final
remarks will be by Alderwoman
STEF any Coleman.
>> STEPHANIE COLEMAN: Thank
you, Mr.
President. I undoubtedly stand
in support of this
resolution in honor of the man,
the myth, the legend.
You know, chairman Ervin, unlike
you on the west side,
you are limited to Madison
street to get your clothes.
But in ENGwood -- Englewood,
wood, when you're born and
raised there you know how to go
outside of your
community and be the sharpest
man in the City of
nglewood -- Englewood, when you're born and
raised there you know how to go outside of your community and be the sharpest
man in the City of
Chicago Mr. Cates, I am so
grateful for your life and
your leadership. I am so
grateful to your angels,
Leshem, Tanya and O'Shea are
your miracle. I am
grateful even in your works in
Iowa, Indiana,
Missouri, Michigan and all over
the Midwest, Englewood
has always been home. Although
you are housed in the
18th ward with the agency,
agency, 16 is certainly in the
hearts in all of us that share
Englewood. There would
be no Englewood music fest that
has been this
successful had it not been for
you and then commander
Larry Snelling, who gave the
blessing. And we were
able to -- and you witnessed
20,000 people in our
community from your works from
cal HAN foundation to
Christmas in the wards. I say
when I see Mr. Cates
and Mr. Huggins, I know that the
wise men are in the
buildings, to even the football
classic.
You protect not only your
family, but you
protect our community and the
least of these, our most
vulnerable population in those
in CHA and our seniors.
You know, opportunity used to
tell me when you take
care of God's business, he'll
take care of yours.
With over 700 employees as a
Black man in the City of
Chicago, you still have the time
and the energy to
stand on the front lines at your
family's church to
chair the deacon board. And I
am so enamored of your
commitment not only to Black
leadership in the City of
Chicago but to your faith and to
our God. So Mr.
Cates and Mrs. Cates, today is
your birthday, and we
have been saying this. We want
to give our leaders
their flowers yet while you can
still smell THEMENT
them. So I'm going to verbally
give you your flowers
but on behalf of the Chicago
aldermanic Black caucus,
we want to physically give Mrs.
Cates her flowers on
them. So
I'm going to verbally give you your flowers but on behalf of the Chicago aldermanic
Black caucus, we want to physically give Mrs. Cates her flowers on her
birthday thank you,
sergeant-at-arms to break the
rules for a couple of seconds
and say thank you. We
honor you. We appreciate you
for everything that
you've done, every sacrifice
that you have made for
this city, every sacrifice that
your family, TKO,
O'Shea and Leshem who's
listening, all of the
sacrifice, all of the evenings,
all of the nights, all
of the emergency calls that
don't make it, that we
know things that happen in the
streets before even CPD
at times. And thank you for
being that immediate
response and that protector of
this great city. God
bless you on behalf of Chicago
aldermanic Black
caucus. (Applause).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you to all
those who have spoken on behalf
of Black history
month. Again, thank you, Mr.
Cates, and Gladys Cates,
Tanya Owens, Lena tileer,
tileer, and of course we know
Mr.
know Mr.
Larry Huggins is with us. There
are so many people we
can celebrate during this month
and Black history
month presents us with the
opportunity to celebrate
those who have come before us
and celebrate the work
that they have done to make our
life better today.
At
a time when our country is
besieged by the actions of
the federal government who are
trying to remove civil
rights and freedoms and
protection, we must remember
the reasons why we are
celebrating this month. We
must continue to fight for what
is right for equality
and inclusion and for justice in
our Black communities
so every person who has the
opportunity to call
Chicago home can live in
vibrancy and peace. Again we
want to acknowledge those who
are brought before us
today, Mr. George Buddy Guy,
Guy, Barbara Mcgowan who could
not be with us today but served
as the Commissioner
for the metropolitan reclamation
district for the City
of Chicago for over 20 years and
years and finally Mr. William
Cates, founder and CEO of Cates
Cates detective and security
agency. And of course we will
continue to remember
and honor the life of reverend
Jesse Jackson senior.
So again Mr. Cates and to all,
happy Black history
month. Thank you very much.
(Applause)
.
I suppose Mr. Cates wants to say
a few words.
Very well, leave from the body
to GRAPT Mr. Cates --
leave is granted. Mr. Cates,
grant Mr. Cates --
leave is granted. Mr. Cates, the floor is yours.
>> First of all, let me give
give praises to my Lord
and savior, Jesus Christ.
Without him I would not be
here today. And also
to mayor of the City of Chicago
and God for Brandon Johnson, a
man with a vision. I'm
very moved today. My wife,
thank God for my wife, her
birthday. We was planning on
taking a trip Monday,
but I got a call on Valentine's
Day that this honor
was coming up. So I had to
change all that flights
around. I told my wife, you
have to leave today, on
her birthday, in order to
celebrate her life. We've
been married almost 50 years.
(Applause). I'm so
humble. Alderman Coleman, I
thank God for you and the
work that you do. Alderman
Harris, Moore, Jason and
everyone that spoke, it's
very difficult. To feed as
many families as I feed, but I
have to go back to my
father. My father was a pastor
for 39 years at a
church in Morgan Park where I
grew up. And 39 years
what he taught me was if
I go in business, if it's
going to be about you, then
don't go in business
because it's about helping other
people. If you can't
help other people while you're
here, that's what my
daddy used to tell me all the
time, there was eight of
us. I'm the oldest of eight.
So I had to be the one
that stepped out, became an
example for others. And I
hope that I'm a good example to
my siblings. And it's
a lot of work, and it's just so
humbling that someone
thinks that much of me. I think
less of myself, and I
think more for others because
it's all about helping
your fellow man. And I
sincerely mean that from the
bottom of my heart. My
daughters, I thank God. They
work hard. I'm just grateful.
I'm very grateful for
this. Larry, as always,
brother, thank God for you.
Miss Tyler, thank God for you,
what you do. And most
of all, thank God for the City
of Chicago, allowing me
to build a business in the City
of Chicago and feed a
lot of families. That's what I
do. I feed families.
I also have a nonprofit that --
that when people are
incarcerated, we give life
skills. And right now we
gave life skills about 9,000
people that have came
through our training school.
And we changed a lot of
lives. 720 to feed. (Applause)
(Applause).
It's absolutely about taking
care of people.
And that's what I believe in.
And that's who I am as
a person. And I thank God for
all of you. All of you
I thank God for. And I know
what you guys go through
in the wards you have because
you deal with people in
the wards. All the complaints
come in. You guys work
hard dealing with people. And
PaT Dowell, Alderman
Dowell, thank God for you. You
certainly have been a
friend, along with Alderman
Coleman, all the rest of
you all have been friends to me
for a long time. And
this day I am as grateful as
anyone can be and
Alderman Ervin, thank God for
you as well and everyone
here. Sometime you saying
names, you forget the
names. And Alderman Lee, thank
God for you as well.
And everyone. At a time we're living in right now,
you better love one another, I
tell you that, because
man, times are rough right now.
But I believe in what
I do, and I believe in my Lord
and savior, Jesus
Christ, who carries me through
all ups and downs. I'm
a man who likes to pray. I was
taught to pray all my
life. And I pray every day two
and three times a day,
I pray. And I'm going to pray
for you all. And I'm
certainly going to pray for the
mayor of the City of
Chicago. God bless you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you.
(Applause). Alderwoman Harris,
can I get a motion for
the passage of this resolution
of the omnibus?
>> MICHELLE HARRIS: (Inaudible)
of the
omnibus, Mr. Mayor.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered. Thank
you very much. We just
have one more resolution. As
Mr. Cates and family, as
they exit the box, our final
resolution will be for
memorial resolution honoring
Brenda Langstraat Bui,
Chicago Public Library
foundation CEO. This is an
honor of her contributions to
the City of
Chicago.
And as the family prepares to
sit in the box,
Alderwoman Sam Nugent has asked
to provide closing
remarks, but I understand that
there are a couple of
members -- I'm sorry -- that the
city clerk as well as
Commissioner of libraries
libraries Commissioner would
like to
address the body as well.
Commissioner
remarks, but I understand that there are a couple of
members -- I'm sorry -- that the city clerk as well as Commissioner of libraries
Commissioner would like to address the body as well.
Commissioner Brown. Leave
from the body to allow our city
clerk as well as
Commissioner Brown to speak.
All right. Leave has
been granted. Thank you. The
chair recognizes Clerk
Valencia.
>> We were talking about you
wish you could
receive your flowers after we
gave one to Mr. Cates.
I hope that I could have given
this to my friend while
she was still here. So just
bear with me as I didn't
know I'd be first today. To
know Brenda ORB, as we
know -- to know Brenda or as we
referred to her as
Bea, was to know complete light.
She was joy. She
was love. She always saw and
looked for the good in
people. She believed in being
of service to all, that
it was our duty to show up for
all of our communities
no matter what. We were not to
leave anyone behind.
She lived out her values and her
actions, and it was
always so inspiring to all of
us. I met Brenda in
2011 when she convinced mayor
Emanuel to allow our
office, the fifth floor, to
volunteer during our lunch
break to read to young students
on the west side
through her time at Witt working
in the schools.
Every week we got on our yellow
school bus from City
Hall and we went to melody
school on the west side to
read to our students. It was
the best part of my week.
At age 26 she became a mentor
and a friend to me
and so many others and the
government and nonprofit
space that felt like we knew it
all, but boy, did we
know nothing. She was generous
with her tips on how
to navigate the rocky waters of
Chicago politics, both
in the civic and political
world, how to work a room
at a gala, which was completely
new to a lot of us who
were not raised in this type of
world. She embraced
us, encouraged us, and helped us
build confidence to
feel like we belonged in those
rooms. Her passion was
contagious. She was a force for
good and always had a
way of getting people to help
out, volunteer, donate
more money than you expected,
especially for literacy,
without you even knowing what
you were saying yes to.
It was her super power.
If Brenda asked, you just said
yes. Her
kindness, generosity, and love
for her people will
remain imprinted on all of us
for the rest of our
lives. And now it's our
responsibility as leaders in
this room to honor her legacy by
legacy by showing up in our
communities and asking what do
you need, how can I be
helpful? To show up with
compassion, hope, and love,
to check the egos, stop with the
blame game, roll up
our sleeves and get the work
done. It's also our job
to build up the next generation
of civic leaders,
ready to do good, ready to be
the light in the
darkness, and ready to serve and
open the doors for
them just like Brenda did for
us.
Our current political culture
demands a strong
leader to be loud, hard, and
abrasive. But Brenda
showed us a different way, to be
even more effective.
She led authentically, openly,
with integrity,
collaboration, and compassion.
Those qualities are
what made her one of the most
effective and
influential civic leaders I had
the privilege to serve
with.
And for me that's what I hope to
continue
modeling as a leader.
To Ve, Commissioner Brown, the
foundation team, Brenda's
family, friends and squad,
thank you for caring and loving
for our dear friend
RB. Thank you for sharing her
with all of us. May
God give you the strength and
peace to help carry you
through these dark days ahead.
May the beautiful
moments you shared carry you
through the waves of
grief, and may her memory and
legacy be lived out
through all of us. We love you,
our dear RB.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Thank
you. Commissioner
grief, and may her memory and
legacy be lived out through all of us. We love you, our dear RB.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Thank
you. Commissioner Brown.
>> Thank you, mayor, and members
of council.
Also thank you, Alderman Nugent
for recognizing Brenda
Langstraat Bui, an incredible
Chicago leader and
contributor to our city. As
library Commissioner, I
could not have wanted a better
partner in figuring out
how to keep the Chicago Public
Library a world class
library. In your role, you
understand our city
departments and our sister
agencies. You see
firsthand what it takes to
sustain strong public
institutions. And Brenda was a
critical part of what
made Chicago Public Library a
nationally recognized
and beloved city library across
our 77 neighborhoods
and beloved by many of you here
today. The Chicago
Public Library foundation was
formed in 1986 by sin
did I political Kerr to serve as
the library's
philanthropic partner. And for
40 years, they turned
private generosity into public
impact, surviving lit
and going beyond what public
funding alone can
provide. They amplified the
city's investment and
expand what a library can
achieve. So many of the
programs beloved by Chicagoans
in your wards are made
possible by our foundation, and
Brenda led that
support. During her seven years
leading the
foundation, she engaged our
civic and philanthropic
community to amplify our city
investment. Because of
her leadership at parkways and
working in the schools,
she brought a unique deep
philanthropic and expertise
around literacy. When the
library went fine free, she
was one of the loudest
proponents of what this would
mean for our kids. At the time
over 200,000 Chicago
kids could not borrow books from
their libraries
because of late fees. She not
only supported
eliminating those barriers but
was our ever-present
partner in working with Mayor
Johnson and our city to
get to a data share to we'll get
our students all
access to their Chicago Public
Library. Under her
leadership, the foundation grew
to more than 2300
donors and supporters each year,
strengthening our
out-of-school time learning and
activities, our summer
reading program that keeps all
of our kids reading,
our free homework tutoring, and
digital navigation support.
She also helped create a branch
programming fund
that empowers the library
managers in your wards to do
programming responses to your
constituents. During
the pandemic, she was our
partner in launching live
from the library when all of our
kids couldn't come
out into our libraries and
gather. She was a driving
force in creating that
programming that brought the
Obamas and Oprah, Chicago
notables to read stories to
kids and families and keep them
connected in the
pandemic.
And that program reached
millions worldwide.
While president, she helped
secure the largest special
collections grant the library
kids and families and keep them
connected in the pandemic. And that program reached millions worldwide.
While president, she helped secure the largest special collections grant the library
has ever seen, a $2
million melon foundation grant
to digitize our harsh
collection, the largest African
American heritage
collection in the Midwest. She
expanded the reach of
the library foundation awards
through public
broadcast, increasing viewership
by ten fold, reaching
thousands and thousands of
viewers in Chicago and
worldwide. She was a beloved
national thought leader,
supporting network -- a network
of philanthropic
library leaders and advocates at
the American library
association and beyond. I also
want to recognize her
family and friends and
colleagues who are here would
are here with us
today, her beloved husband, Ve
Bui, the nieces and
nephews that she loved so much.
Thank you for sharing
her with Chicago. We also have
joining a number of
her CEO colleagues and friends
who supported her work.
We all need those to sustain us,
and we know all of
you made Brenda stronger in her
work.
And to the members of the
library -- public
library board and Chicago Public
Library foundation
board, I know you each loved
working with her and that
we will all feel her absence
deeply.
Brenda believed in libraries.
She believed our
country needed readers more than
ever. She was a
reader. She loved her work, and
she leaves the
foundation and its partnership
stronger than ever and
we're grateful, mayor, for you
and council honoring
her today. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank you.
(Applause). Are there any other
alders that wish to
speak in memorial? The chair
recognizes alder Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Thank you, Mr.
President. I
rise in support of this
resolution. And the clerk and
Chris, thank you for sharing in
depth, and thank you
for this resolution. Thank you,
Alderman
Nugent. Her
accomplishments professionally
were great, and I have
a feeling that if we had a
bigger box, it would be
more full. And what a
significant impact she made.
So thank you all for sharing her
with us and for
supporting her in all of her
her greatness for the brief
time she was here.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Very
well. Seeing no other hands,
our final remarks will
be made by Alderwoman Sam Nugent.
>> SAMANTHA NUGENT: Thank you,
Mr. President,
and good afternoon, everyone.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Good
afternoon.
>> SAMANTHA NUGENT: I can't see
who read my
words yet so you've got to give
me a second. Thanks
for this opportunity to speak
about my friend, Brenda
Bui. Brenda was an exceptional
leader and a true
champion for Chicago's public
libraries. She believed
deeply in their role as places
of access, opportunity,
and community. She worked every
day to make sure that
that belief translated into real
action. I have the
privilege of getting to know
Brenda through the one
book one Chicago program. And
we quickly discovered
how much we had in common. We
both talk a mile a
minute. We're always brimming
with ideas. We have
energy, we have plans, big
plans, every time we're
together. There was a natural
rhythm to our
conversations that made working
together not only
productive but just genuinely
really fun. Every time
we talked, I walked away
energized. She was
thoughtful, she was smart, and
she was completely
committed to her work. She
loved the city, and she
believed in its people.
She was the brightest light in
every single
room. And that was obvious in
her work. She was
passionate about books. She was
passionate about the
library. She was passionate
about bringing programs
to children and adults across
the city. Brenda
understood the power of stories
to bring people
together, and she dedicated her
life to making sure
those stories were accessible to
everyone in our city.
Under Brenda's leadership, the
Chicago Public Library
foundation grew its reach and
strengthened support
across all 81 branches. She
helped expand access to
programs, elevate literacy
efforts, and bring new
energy to the foundation's work.
This loss is
personal for many of us. It is
certainly very
personal to me. To Brenda's
family, to her husband,
who's with us today, her
colleagues, the folks at the
foundation, Commissioner Brown,
of one who loved her,
clerk Valencia, please know that
this City Council
recognizes the depth of her
impact and we share in
your grief. Brenda made Chicago
better, and her
legacy will be felt for
generations. Thank you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome. We
do want to acknowledge again
the family as well as
friends in the box, Mr. Bui, KEL
I owe con or, Sarah,
for Trystan, and to the niece
and nephew and the
elly owe con or, Sarah, for Trystan, and to the niece
and nephew and the
niece, MISH he will Michael,
Kate LIN, and DREE
a,
Beth Davis. Of course we're
grateful that Linda
Johnson Rice is with us as well.
Together we are
mourning the loss of Brenda Bui,
a lifelong advocate
for the arts, literacy and most
of all learning. We
were blessed to have known
Brenda's leadership and
dedication a the her role in
working in the schools
the Chicago Humanities festival
and of course as
president and CEO of the Chicago
Public Library
foundation. She led the
foundation with vision,
integrity, and care, seeing us
through our most
difficult moment in modern
history, the pandemic. And
profound periods of transition,
all while advancing
equity and access to our
library. The people and
children of Chicago are better
served in our
libraries, thanks to initiatives
that she has
spearheaded, like many of the
programs, particularly
the expansion of virtual
programming as well. The
impact of her work will span for
generations to come.
With greater access to learning
opportunities,
Chicago's young people can grow
into engaged
residents, innovators, and
leaders of our society.
Doors will open for our young
people in every
neighborhood, ensuring that they
can thrive and
succeed. In that way, Brenda
continues to strengthen
and to beautify our city. And
we are forever
grateful. I know that our
entire Chicago Public
Library community and the many
people across the city
who worked with her and loved
her will miss her
dearly. Her legacy will live on
in the Chicago Public
Library foundation's continued
success. And finally,
again, to Mr. Bui, to her
parents, Phil and Karen, her
sisters, Juline and Johna, and
Brenda's many in laws
and nieces and nephews and of
course the Chicago
Public Library foundation and
staff and board who had
the privilege of working with
her, Chicago will
certainly remember Brenda for
the way that she has
transformed so many lives. And
with that, Alderman
Mitchell, can I get a resolution
-- I'm sorry -- can I
get a motion for the passage of
this resolution with a
rising standing
vote? Alderman Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, I move
passage of the omnibus by rising
vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: To
the memory of
Brenda. Very well. As we give
the family an
opportunity to leave the box, I
want to thank everyone
for their patience today. I
know we had a number of
resolutions and acknowledgements
to get through today.
Thank you all for being
respectful of each other's
time. And keeping your comments
as brief as possible
while also honoring and
recognizing all that were
brought before us today with
true recognition.
Alderman Mitchell, for the
return of the regular
order of business.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, I move
that we return to the regular
order of business.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, I move that we return to the regular order of business.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Hearing no objection, so ordered.
Communications, Mr. Clerk. >> Communications to his
honorable mayor to the
City Council to the City of
that we return to the regular
order of business. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Hearing no
objection, so ordered. Communications, Mr. Clerk. >> Communications to his
honorable mayor to the City Council to the City of >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection, so ordered. Communications, Mr. Clerk.
>> Communications to his honorable mayor to the City Council to the City of
Chicago. (Reading
communications). Your Honor,
that concludes the
reports and communications from
the mayor and other
city offices.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well.
Committee reports. We will
begin with the finance
committee. The chair recognizes
Chairwoman Dowell.
>> PAT DOWELL: Thank you, Mr.
President, and
members of the City Council.
Reporting for the City
Council's committee on finance,
which held committee
meetings on.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Chair
recognizes
Alderman Beale.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: Mr.
President, I am well
aware that the clerk has
received the veto of the
hemp
ordinance. Are we taking that
up now for the override
or are we going to wait at the
end under unfinished
business?
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: It
was just taken up.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: Okay. But we
didn't -- it
was submitted. It wasn't taken
up.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
whole submission
is it being taken up.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: Okay. So at
what point do
we have the right to talk about
it or vote to override
it?
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: That
moment just
occurred.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: No, we did
not get past that
point, Mr. President. I stood
up, and I think we
should take that up now.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Is
there a motion
that you would like to provide?
>> ANTHONY BEALE: My motion is
to have a
chance to debate the potential
override of the hemp
ordinance in which you
veto.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Okay.
So Alderman,
you cannot make a motion to
debate. If you would like
to make a motion to pass this
ordinance, you can make
that motion. And then at that
point, then a debate
could occur. So are you making
a motion to pass this
item?
>> ANTHONY BEALE: I do not -- I
do not want to
proceed with the veto. I would
like to override the
veto.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: All
right. So your
motion is to pass SO2025-
SO2025-0 -- SO2025-00
SO2025-0021018, and this
is regarding the regulation of
cannabis hemp products.
And this is despite the veto.
So there's a motion on
the floor to pass this item of
which the item number
has been read. Are there any
members that wish to
speak to this item? The chair
recognizes Alderman Beale.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Mr. President, this is an
ordinance that my colleague
champion, Alderman Quinn, with
working diligently with
this entire body. He worked
extremely hard to come up
with a consensus that we all
thought was in the best
interest of the City of Chicago
and the children of
the City of Chicago while we
wait on the federal
government to figure out what it
is they are going or
not going to do. I think it's
extremely important
that we understand that the
thrust behind Alderman
Quinn and this ordinance. We're
trying to protect
children. This particular
ordinance was passed to
protect children who are being
fed and misled with
packaging and fanfare that this
is candy and kids are
being harmed by this particular
product. And my
colleague worked with everybody,
the industry. We
heard the industry in committee.
We talked about what
is in the best interests of the
city at this
particular time. And so I
understand that -- I think
there were 33 votes on this
particular ordinance. One
shy of the necessary veto poof
ordinance. We're very
close, and so I would like to
just really stress upon
people who understand that we're
just trying to
protect children and not protect
the industry, that
you reconsider your vote while
we wait for the federal
government to understand what it
what it is they're gonna do
or not do. And so I think it's
important that we
override this veto. I think
it's important that we
understand that 33 members voted
to keep ShotSpotter
that was not implemented and not
taken into
consideration. When you have
almost the super
majority of the colleagues in
this body saying we want
to go one way but yet we go the
other is a total
contradictory of what we are
trying to accomplish here
in this city. At least sit down
and talk with the
majority of the people about
what it is that we would
like to do or not like to
do. So I understand where
my colleague is, but I just felt
obligated to stand up
and say a few words on why it is
we need to override
this veto. So with
that, I renew my motion, if
anybody else would like to
speak.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Chair
recognizes
Alderman Napolitano.
>> ANTHONY NAPOLITANO: Thank
you, Mr.
President. I'll make this as
brief as I can.
You all right? I didn't think
so. I agree with
my colleague, Alderman Beale,
wholeheartedly. I mean,
as we sit here and we debate
different topics for the
last couple of years, and they
all tend to be all over
the spectrum of what we're
talking about, this is one
of those things where we can all
see physically who the target market is for a lot
of these products. And
I just feel as a council, if
we're not taking those
steps to protect these kids,
kids, who are finding a way to
get ahold of this just based on
the products look,
we're not doing our due
diligence as council.
I get -- Mr. President, I get
your side of this
too. We should be working to
see the state kind of
step into this as well. But we
need to take a stand
as a council when the market is
targeting, targeting
children. You've seen the
pictures of how these
things are -- these products are
represented. They
look like Doritos, they look
like skits, they --
Skittles, there is a whole gamut
of target markets
that they're hitting. And the
main goal is to hit
these children. Whether or not
they want to admit it,
we as a council right now could
step in and just do
our due diligence to make sure
that we're putting up a
wall between our kids and these
products. I get that
there's different sides to this,
but we really,
really, really should try to
find a way to come
together as council on one
topic. And this should be
our kids. Thank you, Mr.
President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome.
Alder Rodriguez Sanchez.
>> ROSSANA RODRIGUEZ-SANCHEZ:
I'm going to
repeat what I said last time in
council. This piece
of legislation has no evidence
to back it. It is not
based on best practices. This
product is going to be
available in the black market.
Nobody is going to
protect children. We need to
regulate. This takes
away that possibility. We could
be working with the
industry to make sure that we
actually protect people,
but that is not what this piece
of legislation
accomplishes. And I am very
glad that the mayor is
vetoing. I would encourage you
to vote no.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Ervin.
>> JASON ERVIN: Thank you, Mr.
President. Two
things. I'm actually in
agreement with just about
everything that's been stated
today for this. I do
believe that as the Alderman
from the ninth ward
stated, that there needs to be
an additional
conversation on this and through
the legislative
process, I believe that this is
the way that the
conversation is brought about.
As I've stated in my
conversations with the maker of
the original
ordinance, the time that's
necessary to do that, the
window is particularly too
narrow. Now, I do believe
that we need to protect our
children, that we need to
do all of the things that have
been stated. The other
side of that equation is that we
have a lot of
individuals who unfortunately
have been shut out in
this market previously from an
action that this
council took related to
cannabis. So I don't
necessarily believe that we need
to shut out the same
people we shut out previously.
And that's part of the
conversation. But again,
regulation, I think, is
something that we all have an
interest in doing. And
also I do believe that we must
protect our children in
relation to this, and so
hopefully we come back with a
stronger and better ordinance
after this particular
ordinance veto is sustained.
Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Sigcho-Lopez.
>> BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Thank
you, Mr.
President, and first I agree
with the sentiment that
is important that we listen to
all parties involved.
I talked to a lot of small
businesses in our community
that were completely caught off
guard. In fact, some
representatives are here, right
here. They have never
been -- they have never brought
up to the table. So
this policy of that, we listen
to all sides, there are
certain members of this council
who love to work with
big industry. That's what they
work for. As we speak
in the center, the THC drinks
will be completely
unregulated. So let's not talk
about we're listening
to everybody, we're hearing to
shall, when it's --
everybody, when it's very
obvious that it's clear that
there's a part of this council
that just listens to
operations. That's simple. So
we're talking about
protecting the well-being of our
children. As a
father of triplets, that's
something I look every
single day. But you tell me
that the federal
government that protects
pedestrian o FOOILs are
protecting our children and
they're going to regulate
our industry somehow on behalf
of the city? Then I'm
living in a different world. So
I tell you today the
City Council can have a voice
and be the voice of
their constituents, not a big
industry, giving carve
outs to big industry and calling
that we talking about
the children. So today we have
an opportunity and I'm
glad that the mayor is vetoing
these so that we can
THIEL have a conversation. So
we want to have a real
conversation, let's establish by
including our
constituents. Let's start to
talk about the children
and let's talk -- let's forget
about the federal
government protecting children.
Those are a bunch of
people who protect pedophi
LESHGSs, period. Thank
es, period. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Hopkins.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
The science underpinning this
debate is fact based,
proven, well established, and
beyond refute. And I'll
summarize briefly. The
substance in cannabis that
gives you that high that people
seek is a chemical
compound called THC. When you
go to a licensed
cannabis dispenseary in Illinois
Illinois and you buy
flowers,
consumables, there's varying
amounts of THC but it is
the THC in those products that
give you high.
Bee definition, hemp, purchased
outside of a
licensed cannabis dispensary
bylaw must have less than
0.3 percent of THC, a trace
amount that is nowhere
near enough to give you any
feeling at all. So what
are you buying it for? And what
is it that's giving
you that intoxicated sensation?
We don't know. We
don't know. It's synthetic.
It's artificially
created in illicit laboratories,
and it's not labeled.
You are risking your health and
children are risking
your health when you buy an
untested, unregulated
product from an unlicensed
facility that has something
in it that gets you high and you
don't know what it
is. There's no way to escape
that irrefutable fact
that I just stated. And we're
allowing this to happen
in this city right now. That is
unconscionable and
inexcusable. And I don't care
if people make money
selling it. The black market?
You know what else is
illegal and is sold every day?
Cocaine, fentanyl,
heroin. It's sold all over the
city but we don't say
we better let it be sold in gas
stations, too, because
they're going to sell it anyway.
anyway. That is ridiculous.
That is absurd. These are
dangerous harmful products.
Children are getting sick. They
need to be banned,
and all the rest of this is just
an excuse and it's
nonsense. I object to this, and
I will vote to
override this veto.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alder
Vasquez.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Thank you,
Mr. President.
First I just appreciate there's
a process. I
appreciate you vetoed it, as
somebody who voted for
the ban. So I just want to make
sure I explain where
I'm at on it. I'm probably one
one of the few members of
council that actively consumes
cannabis and is willing
to say it publicly. Some
aren't.
This is about a different manner
and I didn't
know we were going to go from EP
from Epstein to edibles in
the same conversation. So it's
okay if you're talking
the beverages because they're
regulated through the
state through the liquor
distributors which is more
legislation the city would
actually provide. In
multiple hearings that we've had
in this council where
we've talked about the actual
regulation, the city
can't do it. They can't
properly regulate. They
can't test any of it. There is
a concern for any of
the edible products that are the
ones that get you
high. It would also not create
a black market.
Cannabis exists. People would
actually go get
cannabis rather than the work
around because the state
didn't do their job and actually
having enough
licenses to go around. We all
know that what they
created is a market where the
richest, whitest people
who own their cannabis
businesses were able to do so.
It did block a market. We
should call it for what it
is. The state hasn't done
enough, and it's multiple
years later without providing
licenses for people who
are trying to operate businesses
because it can't do
cannabis, they found THC as a
work around. It's
unfair that they're in that
position but when it comes
to us thinking about the kids
and the edibles that are
everywhere, I want to at least
know there's quality in
the product that you get through
regulation at the
state level which you do not get
currently at the city
level. So this is more about
refer madness and more
about a government to properly
regulate something if
they're going to allow it. And
because the city is
not able to do so, that is where
I stand where I'm at.
Again you have every right to
veto. I hope it's less
contentious and we get it over
with. Thank you, Mr.
President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Sposato.
>> NICHOLAS SPOSATO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I sure wasn't expecting this
today. We started off
with a decent conversation and
we went to pedophiles
taking opportunity of everybody.
And real -- okay,
pedophiles and whiteys taking
advantage of the city.
You got it. There's not much to
talk about, Mr.
President. Here's my wish. I
wish there was a third
option here. I don't know if
there is. There's
probably not. I wish there's a
third option to go
back to the table. Let's talk
about this again. You
got people that say they were
shut out. I didn't
think they were. If they feel
they were, let's bring
them back to the table. Let's
continue the
conversation. I've changed from
not supporting it to
supporting the ban to now more
confused than ever.
Especially not at whitey and
pedophiles are involved.
So I'm just -- I mean, I don't
know. I sure would
like to hold this and have some
conversation about
this. I don't think this is the
place. We'd like to
have some subject matter
hearings. I talked to some
good people that I think are a
hundred percent legit,
and there's no doubt, there is
no doubt in my mind
there are some bad people out
there. And my colleague
in front of me a couple rows in
front of me, he said
something that really rang out
with me about being
punished for things his older
brothers did. He was
the youngest brother and his
older -- and he was the
one that would be punished for
it or suffered
consequences. And we're kind of
hurting people that
are good actors here. They're
doing the right thing,
making sure people are 21. So
my wish to everybody is
it looks like we're not going to
be able to avoid
voting on this. I certainly
would like to continue
the conversation to have some
subject matter hearings.
That's what I have to say, Mr.
President. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Thank
you, alder. Alder Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Thank you, Mr.
President. I
do support the veto, and I'll
say I know when woo took
this matter up for a full vote,
I spoke my opposition.
I think the comments we're
hearing from the floor are
examples of why we need more
time and actually to
revisit this issue. So I
appreciate your veto and
giving us the opportunity to do
so.
I wanted to put just some
clarifying information
on the record as well. I know
things got a little off
topic, right? And maybe a
little confusing. But I
did want to push back a bit.
What we banned in this
council wasn't just the bad
products that I think most
of us are trying to get rid of
or regulate. What we
banned were some of the good
products. So I heard a
colleague mention, you know, the
legal hemp has to
have its like 0.3 percent or
less of the THC, and
that's true. And we ban that
too, because technically
it still has some THC in it. So
it's a good example
of, you know, the hemp products,
they're not all
synthetics. I don't like
synthetics. I actually
would very much consider a
synthetic ban. But I think
it illustrates the point of
we've kind of thrown out
the baby with the bath water.
What we passed was too
restrictive. This veto gives us
time to come back to
the table to include more of the
stakeholders,
especially these good actors
that are not selling
synthetic intoxicating products
to children, that are
doing carding, that are
following guidelines so that
we can have something sensible
that does not shut out
a market of people who have
created businesses because
they were shut out of the
cannabis industry and that
allows for a health lifestyle
product to be taxed and
sold while still achieving the
goals of us banning,
limiting, or heavily restricting
the products that we
have found to be dangerous. So
there is a third
option here. I believe we can
work on that, and I'm
still committed to doing so.
Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alder
Fuentes.
>> JESSICA FUENTES: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Alderman Sposato asked if
there's a third path. I
think Alderman Hadden just
articulated one. We need
more time to talk about what
regulation can look like.
I think this ordinance does the
same thing that we
constantly preach against, that
we're harming an
entire industry for a few bad
actors. The industry
has provided resources for
individuals who are in
pain, who need to deal with
their anxiety, and who
have good ingredients in their
products and have their
own regulation standards. Now,
I believe that the
state and the city needs to work
together to be able
to regulate these products for
the safety of
everybody. Look, I don't want
any young person
consuming some of the things
that we see at our
bodegas or our gas stations.
Look, I represent a lot
of high schools. I worked in
high schools for ten
years of my career. I know how
damaging these
products can be. I do not
believe, however, that this
current ordinance in its version
that has passed is
the answer. So I will support
the override hoping
that we can come together and
put forward a more
robust and transparent and sort
of honest ordinance
that doesn't impact the entire
industry. Thank you,
Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Those
are all -- alder Lopez.
>> RAYMOND LOPEZ: Thank you,
Mr. President,
and good afternoon, members of
the City Council.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Good
afternoon.
>> RAYMOND LOPEZ: You're in
luck because I
wasn't prepared to talk about
this, but I do know
that
banning things is not something
new to this body. In
2020, I wish to remind my
colleagues that we're here
and that -- that were here and
that were not here that
the City Council was addressing
addressing an add UKT which was
sold, marketed and -- product
which was sold, marketed
and shared as a tool for tobacco
sensation, for
helping people in their time of
need to try to quit a
dangerous habit. It was
marketed and shared and sold
throughout the entire City of
Chicago as a healthy
option instead of smoking. That
was the e-cigarette.
Do we remember those? What
happened as that
progressed and became more
widely spread throughout
every corner of the City of
Chicago was that you went
from having a tool that was
heralded as a healthy
option for sensation to
something that was marketed
towards children with flavors
not just like men
thol
that included mint, winter
green, hot cocoa,
cotton
candy, you name it, it was out
there. People still
said it's to help you stop
smoking, even though it had
the beautiful colors and it was
very much marketed
towards individuals who probably
never had a smoking
issue to begin with until they
started sucking on
those metal tubes because they
liked the flavor of
them. Where did those products
wind up the most? On
the south and west side.
My colleagues from Englewood and
I railed
against these because of how
dangerous they were.
This council in
2020 said enough. Banned it
overwhelmingly because of the
health concerns that we
had at the time. One of our
colleagues who has since
retired said something which I
think is very apropos
in this moment, and that was --
I could say his name
because he's not here, Alderman
Harry Osterman said,
and I quote, we should not trade
off the health of
young people for the budget.
And that's exactly what
has always been the argument for
vetoing this
ordinance and for allowing it to
remain sold in our
streets, that we should just tax
it. We should make
more money off it, disregard
everything that our
colleague from the second ward
said about the health impact. Disregard whether or
not it's synthetic or
natural. Disregard whether or
not it's laced with
anything or even regulated.
Disregard the health of
those individuals who think that
they're getting
something healthy that's only
going to end up costing
us as a society more as their
illnesses grow
exponentially.
We are having the same argument
again six years
later, on another topic again
that is designed to go
after and corrupt young minds,
weak bodies. I
understand, as my colleagues
have said, there are some
things that are good that should
be regulated, some
things that were allowed, that
are beneficial. I get
it. But we have to start
somewhere. And absolutely
there's time for more
discussion. What I told
businesses in my ward was what
would you like to see
amended? How can we change
this? How can we help
you? And every time that
question was posed to
leaders, there was no answer
other than we just want
to keep selling.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is
not the answer for
compromise. So we are here
today because we have to
draw the line and start
somewhere. That is what our
colleague worked so hard as we
heard all of those
testimonials, and I think it's
think it's why we need to again
have a metric from which to
begin this conversation.
The wild west of this industry
isn't working. So we
need to
rein it in, figure out how to
move forward
with our partners and go from
there. And I urge all
of my colleagues to support this
override as I intend
to vote that way as well. Thank
you, Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Waguespack.
>> SCOTT WAGUESPACK: Thank you,
Mr. President.
First of all, I'd like to
request a copy of that
letter that you gave to the
clerk and provide it to
all aldermen --
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
(Inaudible) copy of
the letter.
>> SCOTT WAGUESPACK: I'd like
to look more
specifically at the reasoning.
But you know, I
think -- I think a lot of us
have good things to say
about the staff at BACP that
were working diligently
on this. It was my
understanding from what they
were
telling me that the businesses
that I have were going
to be held harmless because they
didn't engage in
selling the synthetics that we
were trying to stop
here from going out to the
streets and going to our
schools, where we have seen
incidents of children
being taken to the hospital
several times in the city.
So I guess the question is what
should we do in
the meantime when we find
businesses selling these
synthetics? Should we call the
police? Should we
call BACP? Should we call you?
What's the answer?
Or are we just going to let it
go as is? And I feel
like it's my duty as an alderman
to call those places
out and to say why are you
distributing this stuff at
the lakefront? Why are you
distributing this stuff in
front of a school? Why are you
distributing it in a
festival? And I guess the
answer is going to have to
go back to the administration
for what their intent is
there.
But I would just ask that veto
is fine, but the
burden is on you now to come up
with something else to
get these synthetics off the
street and to protect our
there.
But I would just ask that veto is fine, but the burden is on you now to come up
with something else to get these synthetics off the street and to protect our
kids. The burden is on you. . Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. The
clerk has reminded all of us
that the letter is posted
on her website and each
alder has received a copy of
the rationale the moment that
the veto was filed. If
there are no other hands, I
believe the motion on the
floor is likely for a roll call
vote. And if that is
not correct, Alderman Beale, I
would refer to you as
the originator of the
motion. If you are requesting
a
roll call vote, you may do so at
this time.
>> ANTHONY BEALE: Absolutely,
Mr. President.
I move for a roll call vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
There's a roll call
vote requested for this
particular item. The item
number has been read already.
Again, just for
absolute clarification, a yes
vote on this item means
that you support this ordinance.
A no vote means that
you support the veto.
Madam
Clerk.
Okay. For technical rationale,
you support the
motion, which is the indication
of the support of the
item. A no vote means you
Madam Clerk.
Okay. For technical rationale, you support the motion, which is the indication
of the support of the item. A no vote means you support the veto.
>>. The voting is now open.
The voting is now
open. Please use your e-device.
The voting is now
open. All right. I will now
call on those who have
not used your e-device.
Alderman Hall. Alderman
Mosley. Alderman -- oh, sorry,
Hall?
open. All right. I will now call on those who have
not used your e-device. Alderman Hall. Alderman Mosley. Alderman -- oh, sorry,
Hall? >> WILLIAM HALL: Hall is a no.
>> Alderman Hall is a no.
Alderman Mosley.
Alderman Mitchell. Not present
in chambers.
Alderwoman Harris. Alderwoman
Alderwoman Harris is a
no.
Alderman Curtis. Curtis is a
yes. Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman Mitchell. Not present
in chambers. Alderwoman Harris. Alderwoman Harris is a no.
Alderman Curtis. Curtis is a yes. Alderman O'Shea. >> MATTHEW O'SHEA: Yes.
>> O'Shea is a yes. Alderman
Mosley. Alderman
Rodriguez.
>> MATTHEW O'SHEA: Yes.
>> O'Shea is a yes. Alderman Mosley. Alderman Rodriguez.
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: No.
>> Alderman
Burnett. Alderman Conway.
Rodriguez.
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: No. >> Alderman Burnett. Alderman Conway.
>> WILLIAM CONWAY: Yes.
>> Conway is a yes. Alderman
Sposato. No?
Alderman Sposato is a no.
Alderman Gardiner.
Gardiner is a yes. Alderwoman
Clay.
>> ANGELA CLAY: No.
>> Clay is a no. Alderwoman
Manaa Hoppenworth.
Clay is a nay. No. And
Manaa-Hoppenworth, I'm sorry.
No. Okay.
Anyone else I missed online,
virtual? Alderman
Mosley? Alderman Burnett, are
you there?
Okay. All
those who have voted that
wished. The voting is now
closed.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. There
are 26 yeas, 20 nays. This
motion fails. For
committee reports, the chair
recognizes Chairwoman
Dowell.
>> PAT DOWELL: Thank you, Mr.
President, and
members of the City Council.
Reporting for the City
Council's committee on finance
which held committee
meetings on February 9th and
February 11th, 2026, the
following items received a do
pass recommendation from
the committee.
Item No. 1 is an ordinance
concerning the
designation of municipal
depositories for the City of
Chicago and the Chicago board of
education for fiscal
year 2026. Mr. President unless
someone wishes to
speak on this matter, I move
passage of this item by a
roll call vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Seeing
no hands, there's a request for
this item to be taken
up by roll call vote. Members
of the body, please use
your e-vote application to
record your vote at this
no hands, there's a request for
this item to be taken up by roll call vote. Members of the body, please use
your e-vote application to record your vote at this time. #.
>> The voting is now open.
Please use your
e-device. The voting is now
.
>> The voting is now open. Please use your e-device. The voting is now
open. We'll call on
those who have not used their
e-device. Alderman Hall.
We'll call on
those who have not used their e-device. Alderman Hall. >> WILLIAM HALL: Yes.
>> You said yes?
Hall.
>> WILLIAM HALL: Yes. >> You said yes? >> WILLIAM HALL: Yes.
>> Okay. Alderman membership he
Okay. Alderman Mitchell, not
in chambers.
Alderwoman Coleman. Coleman is
a yes. Alderman
Curtis. Curtis is a yes.
Alderman O'Shea. Alderman
O'Shea is a yes. Alderman
Mosley. Alderman Rodriguez.
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
>> Rodriguez is a yes. Alderman
Burnett.
Alderman Conway.
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: Yes. >> Rodriguez is a yes. Alderman
Burnett. Alderman Conway. >> WILLIAM CONWAY: Yes.
>> Conway is a yes. Alderman
Gardiner.
Gardiner is a yes. Alderwoman
Clay.
>> ANGELA CLAY: Yes.
>> Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth.
Manaa-Hoppenworth is a yes.
Clay is a
yes. Alderman
Mosley. Alderman Burnett. All
right. The voting is
now closed. Mitchell is not
here.
>> (Inaudible).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: There
are 46 yeas,
zero nays. This motion passes.
Alderwoman Harris, on
the motion to reconsider.
>> MICHELLE HARRIS: Move to
reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: All
those in favor
of the reconsideration of this
vote signify by saying
aye. Any opposed say no. The
The motion fails.
>> PAT DOWELL: Mr. President --
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Just
a second,
Chairwoman. Apologies. The
chair recognizes Alderman
Mosley.
>> RONNIE MOSLEY: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I'd like to be added to the
first roll call as a yes.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Please
add Alderman Mosley as a yes to
the most favorable
roll call in the subsequent
failure of the motion to
reconsider. Chairwoman Dowell.
>> PAT DOWELL: Thank you, Mr.
President. Item
No. 2 is an ordinance amending
the municipal code
section it-32-096, regarding
the department of finance
publication, of proposed rules
requirement. I move
passage of this item by the
first most favorable roll
call vote on the committee on
finance report and the
associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item
Item No. 3 is an ordinance
authorizing the execution of
U.S. HUD section 108 loan
guarantee and associated loan
agreement with BR
Congress owner LLC, with the
Congress theater
rehabilitation project at 2135
north Milwaukee avenue
in the first ward. I move
passage of this item by the
same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 4 is a
substitute
ordinance authorizing an
amendment to the
redevelopment agreement with BR
Congress owner LLC,
and the Congress theater MFP for
the property located
at 2135 north Milwaukee avenue
in the first ward. I
move passage of this item by the
same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 5 is an
ordinance
authorizing the assumption of
the home loan, a loan
subordination and the reSTRUBLTH
the restructuring of the loan
agreement with the habitat
company LLC and the sale
and transfer of renaissance St.
Luke located at 1501
west Belmont avenue in the 3
the 32nd ward. I move passage
of this item by the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 6 is an
ordinance
authorizing the assumption of
multi family program
loans, program funds, a loan
subordination, the
restructuring of the loan
agreement with the habitat
company, LLC, and the sale and
transfer of wicker park
renaissance located at 1527
through 31 north Wicker
Park avenue in the first ward.
I move passage of this
item by the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 7 is a
resolution
introduced by Alderman Beale,
ninth ward and others
calling on the City of Chicago
Chicago city clerk to provide
the Illinois gaming board with a
certified copy of the
council ordinance
SO2025-0021719, adopted by the
City
Council on December 19th, 2025,
allowing video gaming
terminals within the City of
Chicago. I move passage
of this item by the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8A is
an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in
the case of Santiago
versus City of Chicago, case No.
19-CV-04652 and
Fitzgibbons versus City of
Chicago, case No. 22-CV-
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Santiago
versus City of Chicago, case No. 19-CV-04652 and Fitzgibbons versus City of
Chicago, case No. 22-CV-05827 in the total amount
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Santiago
versus City of Chicago, case No. 19-CV-04652 and Fitzgibbons versus City of
Chicago, case No. 22-CV-05827 in the total amount authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Santiago
versus City of Chicago, case No. 19-CV-04652 and Fitzgibbons versus City of
Chicago, case No. 22-CV-05827 in the total amount authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Santiago
versus City of Chicago, case No. 19-CV-04652 and Fitzgibbons versus City of
Chicago, case No. 22-CV-05827 in the total amount of $1,962,000. I move
passage of this item by the same
motion. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8C is
an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in
the case of William
Negron versus Guevera, case No.
18-CV-2701 in the
amount of $800,000. I move
passage of this item by
the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8D is
an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in
the case of Ariel Gomez
versus Guevera, case No.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8D is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in the case of Ariel Gomez versus Guevera, case No.
18-CV-3335 in the amount of
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8D is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in the case of Ariel Gomez versus Guevera, case No.
18-CV-3335 in the amount of >> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8D is an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Ariel Gomez
versus Guevera, case No. 18-CV-3335 in the amount of >> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8D is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in the case of Ariel Gomez versus Guevera, case No.
18-CV-3335 in the amount of
$4,850,000. I move passage of
this item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8E is
an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in
the case of Angel Diaz
versus Guevera, case No.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8E is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in the case of Angel Diaz versus Guevera, case No.
23-CV-02575 in the amount of
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8E is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order in the case of Angel Diaz versus Guevera, case No.
23-CV-02575 in the amount of
$6,950,000. I move passage of
this item by the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8F is
an order
authorizing the corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute settlement order in the
case of Demetrius
Johnson versus Guevera, case No.
20-CV-4156 in the
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8F is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute settlement order in the case of Demetrius Johnson versus Guevera, case No.
20-CV-4156 in the
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8F is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute settlement order in the case of Demetrius Johnson versus Guevera, case No.
20-CV-4156 in the
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 8F is
an order authorizing the corporation counsel to enter into and
execute settlement order in the case of Demetrius Johnson versus Guevera, case No.
20-CV-4156 in the amount of $16,600,000. I move
passage of this item by
the same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 9 is a
communication
transport which verdicts,
verdicts, judgments or SEFT
thements
were entered into for the month
of January 2026. This
will be placed on file with the
clerk. Item No. 10
and 11 consist of orders of
authorization for the
payment of small claims against
the City of Chicago
and the denials of payment of
various small claims
against the City of Chicago,
direct introductions, and
if there are no introductions, I
move that these items
be placed for passage in the
omnibus.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Hearing
no objection, so ordered.
>> PAT DOWELL: Item No. 12 is a
proposed order
authorizing charitable
solicitation on the public way
permit for Misericordia
foundation, a citywide permit
from April 22nd, 2026, to April
25th, 2026. Those two
will be placed on file with the
clerk. Mr. President
and members of the City Council,
Council, the following item
received a do not pass
recommendation at committee.
Item No. 8B is an order
authorizing corporation
counsel to enter into and
execute a settlement order
in the case of Marylyn Rogel, as
special administrator
of the estate of Dominga Flores
Gomez, deceased,
versus City of Chicago officer
Tobias Houston, officer
Adam Tapling, officer Marc
Perrone, officer Kevin
Sweeney, sergeant Erin Murphy,
and Juan C. Vasquez,
case No. 2022 L
of the estate of Dominga Flores
Gomez, deceased, versus City of Chicago officer Tobias Houston, officer
Adam Tapling, officer Marc Perrone, officer Kevin Sweeney, sergeant Erin Murphy,
and Juan C. Vasquez, case No. 2022 L 010886 in the
of the estate of Dominga Flores
Gomez, deceased, versus City of Chicago officer Tobias Houston, officer
Adam Tapling, officer Marc Perrone, officer Kevin Sweeney, sergeant Erin Murphy,
and Juan C. Vasquez, case No. 2022 L 010886 in the
versus City of Chicago officer
Tobias Houston, officer Adam Tapling, officer Marc Perrone, officer Kevin
Sweeney, sergeant Erin Murphy, and Juan C. Vasquez, case No. 2022 L 010886 in the
amount of $8,250,000.
The committee on finance also
held a subject matter
hearing on February 9th at 10:00
a.m. and discussed
municipal depositories as
required by section 2-32-400
of the municipal code and a
resolution introduced by
MOOT O'Shea, Alderman MOOT
O'Shea and others calling
on a subject matter hearing to
discuss the state of
the city's cash flow situation
and timing/plans to
meet advance pension payment
requirements under fiscal
year 2026 budget. No votes were
taken on these
matters -- on this matter. Mr.
President, this
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, madam
chair for the committee on
government budget
operations, the chair recognizes
chair Ervin.
>> JASON ERVIN: Thank you, Mr.
President and
members of the council for
reporting on which held a
committee meeting on February
10th, 2026. The
committee has a series of
reports recommended passage
of the following items. Item
No. 1 is a communication
recommending a proposed
ordinance concerning an annual
appropriation 2026 amendment
with fund 925. I make
the same motion for passage
using the first item --
first vote on the item of finance.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Hearing
no objections, so ordered.
>> JASON ERVIN: Item No. 2 is a
communication
recommending the proposed
ordinance concerning an
amendment of municipal code
3-56-040 to establish a
pilot program for wills tax
license renewals for
qualified veterans. I make the
same motion if there
is no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none so
ordered.
>> JASON ERVIN: Items 3 through
7 are a series
of transfer of funds within the
accounts of wards 38,
44, 3 and the committee on
police and fire all for
year 2026. Strike that. Wards
38, 44, and three
items in the committee on police
and fire all for the
year 2026. I'll make the same
motion if there is no
objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Did
you wish to be
recognized? The chair
recognizes alder Villegas.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Mr.
President, I
apologize I wasn't in my seat.
But item one in the
budget around the veteran hasn't
been talked about yet.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Item
No. 2?
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Item No.
2. Sorry about that.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Do you
wish to so speak to it?
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Yes, I'm
sorry.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Leave
is granted.
Speak to the item. Previously
voted on item 2 in the
budget.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: I
apologize.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, chairman.
Alderman Villegas.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I want to really thank my
colleagues for supporting
item 2. This is an issue that
takes a look at giving
those brave men and women who
defend this country on a
daily basis when they're
honorably discharged, having
them an opportunity to give them
a break. This city
has done a lot around veterans.
And I want to thank
my colleagues and this council
for doing that. Let me
tell you about what are some of
the things that this
council has done. We've taken a
look at codifying the
better business enterprise
program. We've taken a
look at setting aside 10 percent
of the ARO for RET
advance. We've taken a look at
expanding the veterans
preference to veterans that are
not associated with
first responder. And now here
we are taking another
step at giving veterans a break
around (inaudible).
So I just wanted to say thank
you for that. This is
something that we need to
continue to do in supporting
and making sure that Chicago is
the most veteran --
the most friendly veteran city
in the country. So
thank you, Mr. President. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome.
Chairman, if you could restate
your motion again.
>> JASON ERVIN: Yes, for items
3 through 7
which is a series of transfer
funds within wards 38,
44 and 3 in the committee on
police and fire all for
the year 2026, I make the same
motion if there is no
objection. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> JASON ERVIN: Thank you, Mr.
President. That concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, chairman.
For the committee on economic
capital development and
development, the chair
recognizes chair Villegas.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Good
afternoon, Mr.
President, members of the City
Council. Reporting on
cap 258 and technology, the
committee made passage of
the following items. Item one
on the report is a
report of Jason as a community
development
corporation. I mover for
passage of this item by the
first most favorable roll call
vote and the
unsuccessful motion to
reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Item 2 is
a report of
Malki C. Brown as a member of
the special service area
No. 42, 71st Stony
Island. I associated
unsuccessful
motion to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: Item 3
through 5 are
reappointments of Anastasia MAK
DAK I, can stand teen
owes Vitogiannis, and a Thomas
Paspalas, as a special
area Greektown. I move passage
of these items. A
committee on finance and the
first unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
committee on finance and the
first unsuccessful motion to reconsider. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
>> Item 6 is report of Timothy
S. Klump as a
member of special area 18 north
Halsted and item 7 on
the report is the reappointment
of Jamyron Whitaker as
a member of special service area
No. 56 BRONS ville.
I move for passing these items
of the first favorable
roll call vote with the
committee on finance and the
first unsuccessful motion to
reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection so ordered.
>> GILBERT VILLEGAS: That
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you,
Mr. Chair
next up we'll do the committee
on environmental
protection and energy. The
chair recognizes chair
Hadden.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Mr. President and members of
City Council, reporting
for your committee on
environmental protection and
energy, which held a committee
meeting on February
3rd, 2026. The committee has
two reports and
recommends the passage of the
following items.
Item 1 is
SR2025-0018658, expression of
continued support for Chicago
area water way system or
cause reclamation study. I move
passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll
call, vote on the
committee of finance and
unsuccessful motion to
reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Item 2 is
SR2025-0018763, the
recognition of Lincoln Park zoo
and Chicago bird
alliance on rat contraceptive
pilot program. I move
passage of this item by the
first most unfavorable
roll call vote and unsuccessful
motion to reconsider. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> MARIA HADDEN: Mr. President,
this concludes
my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Thank
you. The committee on housing
and real estate. The
chair recognizes chair
Sigcho-Lopez.
>> BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Thank
you Mr. President
and members of the City Council.
Reporting for your
committee on housing and real
estate which held a
meeting on February 11th, 2026.
The committee has
report recommending passage of
one ordinances for a
land sale. Item No. 2 is the
summary of reports for
the department of planning and
development for
ordinance 2026-0022514, sale of
city-owned property at
1014 south California avenue to
in good company in
Chicago NFP in the 20th ward. I
move passage of this
item by the first most favorable
roll call vote on the
committee on finance and
associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Mr.
President, that
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: For
the committee on
health and human relations, the
chair recognizes chair
Rodriguez Sanchez.
>> ROSSANA RODRIGUEZ-SANCHEZ:
For the
committee on health and human
relations with
(inaudible) 27 of 2026 at 10:00
a.m. the committee
reports the following
recommendations. Item one is a
resolution governor JB political
Kerr to direct the
Illinois Commerce Commission to
cease all utility
noncollection for universality
and adopt a collection
procedure. This item received a
do pass
recommendation. Mr. President I
move passage of this
item by the first most favorable
roll call vote of the
committee on finance and the
associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
committee on finance and the
associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
>> The committee also held a
subject matter
hearing to hear testimony from
legislators, legal
experts, and community members
directly impacted by
the disregard for civil rights
and liberties by the
federal government's immigration
enforcement campaign
by welcoming guests from
Minneapolis and no votes were
taken on this hearing and I earn
I earn courage all of my --
encourage all of my colleagues
to watch the recording.
THAPG you MRSHGS president.
That concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. For the
committee on license and
consumer protection, the
chair recognizes chair
Silverstein.
>> DEBRA SILVERSTEIN: Thank
you, Mr. President
and members of the City Council.
I'm reporting for
the committee on license and
consumer protection. We
held a meeting on February SO
10th, 2026 and the
following items were passed by
the committee.
020021726, a substitute
amendment of municipal code
chapter 4-64, by adding new
section 4-64-530,
regarding issuance of retail
tobacco licenses. Mr.
President, I move that the City
Council concur in the
recommendation the of the
license committee by the
same roll call as item No. 1 of
the committee on
finance report and the
associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objections, so ordered.
>> DEBRA SILVERSTEIN: Four
ordinances
regarding liquor moratoriums in
the 14th and 17th
ward,
02026-0022527, and others,
0022528, 0022472, and
0022487. I move passage of
these items by the same
motion if there is no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> DEBRA SILVERSTEIN: Mr.
President, this
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. The
chair recognizes alder Burnett.
>> WALTER BURNETT: Thank you.
Could I be
added to the most favorable roll
call vote in finance?
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: You
sure can. Madam
Clerk, could you add -- thank
you, Alderman Burnett.
The chair recognizes Alderman
Mitchell. Very well,
Alderman Mitchell would also
like to be added to the
most favorable roll call vote
for the finance
committee and the associated
unsuccessful motion to
reconsider. Now for the
committee on pedestrian and
traffic safety, the chair
recognizes chair LaSpata.
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Reporting for your committee on
pedestrian and traffic
safety for which a meeting was
held on Monday,
February 9th, 2026, the
committee recommended passage
of substitute ordinance as
amended
SO2024-0010993,
which establishes a parking
enforcement discipline
system that would route parking
enforcement aides to
311 submissions of vehicles
parked in crosswalks and
bus and bike lanes. If there
are no objections, I
move passage of this item by the
first most favorable
roll call on the committee on
finance and the
associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider the vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Chair
recognizes
Alderman Moore.
>> DAVID MOORE: Thank you, Mr.
you, Mr. President. I'm
not asking for a roll call but
I'd like to be listed
as voting no on this item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: For
this item,
there's a request for a roll
call vote.
>> DAVID MOORE: There was?
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: No,
I'm saying --
>> DAVID MOORE: No, I didn't
ask for a roll
call. I just want to be
requested.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: You
want to be
recorded as a no. Very well.
So Alderman Moore would
like to be recorded as a no on
your first item.
Alderman Waguespack.
>> SCOTT WAGUESPACK: Mr.
President, I'd also
like to be recorded as a no.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well, could you
add Alderman Waguespack.
Alderwoman Lee?
>> NICOLE LEE: I'd also like to
be recorded as
a no.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well.
Alderwoman -- there's a roll
call vote for the first
item.
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: SO2024 --
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Madam
Clerk. Chairman, can you read
the item again, item
No. --
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: That is
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Madam Clerk. Chairman, can you read the item again, item No. --
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: That is SO2024-0010993. >> Got it.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. And this
is the first item in your
report?
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: So -- and
for clarity,
this establishes a parking
enforcement dispatch system
that would route parking
enforcement aides to 311
submissions of vehicles parked
in crosswalks and bus
and bike
lanes.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: All
this establishes a parking
enforcement dispatch system that would route parking enforcement aides to 311
submissions of vehicles parked in crosswalks and bus and bike lanes.
>> The voting is now open.
Please use your
e-device. The voting is now
open.
I will now take those who have
not yet voted on
the e-device. Alderman
Robinson. Alderman Quinn.
I'm sorry. Alderman Hall.
>> WILLIAM HALL: No.
>> Did you say no.
I'm sorry. Alderman Hall.
>> WILLIAM HALL: No. >> Did you say no. >> WILLIAM HALL: No.
>> Okay. Alderman Quinn. Not
here -- not
present in chambers. Alderman
Curtis. Alderman
Curtis is a no. Alderman
O'Shea. O'Shea is a
no.
>> Okay. Alderman Quinn. Not here -- not
present in chambers. Alderman Curtis. Alderman Curtis is a no. Alderman
O'Shea. O'Shea is a no. >> Rodriguez is a yes.
>> Hold on. Alderwoman TAI LOR?
LOR? No? You are
no? Okay. O'Shea is a no.
Alderman Quinn.
aylor? No? You are
no? Okay. O'Shea is a no.
Alderman Quinn. Was that
Quinn? Sorry. Alderman Mosley.
Alderman
Rodriguez?
Was that
Quinn? Sorry. Alderman Mosley. Alderman Mosley. Alderman Rodriguez?
>> MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
>> Alderman Rodriguez is a yes.
Alderperson
Fuentes. Fuentes? Fuentes is a
no. Alderman Burnett.
>> Alderman Rodriguez is a yes. Alderperson
Fuentes. Fuentes? Fuentes is a no. Alderman Burnett. >> WALTER BURNETT: Yes.
>> Burnett is a yes. Alderwoman
Cruz. Cruz is
not present in chambers.
Alderman Conway.
>> WALTER BURNETT: Yes.
>> Burnett is a yes. Alderwoman Cruz. Cruz is not present in chambers.
Alderman Conway. >> WALTER BURNETT: Yes. >> Burnett is a yes. Alderwoman
Cruz. Cruz is not present in chambers. Alderman Conway.
>> WILLIAM CONWAY: Yes.
>> Conway is a yes. Alderman
Quezada. Quezada
is a no. Alderwoman Clay.
>> ANGELA CLAY: Yes.
>> Clay is a yes. Alderwoman
Manaa-Hoppenworth.
Manaa-Hoppenworth is a yes.
Alderman Mosley. Okay. Anyone
else I missed? Cruz
is not here. Manaa-Hoppenworth
is a yes. All right.
The voting is now
closed.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: There
are 16 yeas,
31 nays. This motion fails.
Alderman Mitchell on a
motion to
is not here. Manaa-Hoppenworth is a yes. All right.
The voting is now closed. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: There are 16 yeas,
31 nays. This motion fails. Alderman Mitchell on a motion to reconsider. (Cross
talking).
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Yep.
31 nays. This motion fails. Alderman Mitchell on a
motion to reconsider. (Cross talking). >> GREGORY MITCHELL: Yep.
Yeah, that threw me off.
>> He's with the
majority.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Reconsider the vote.
On the motion to reconsider,
signify by saying aye.
Those who oppose say no. This
motion fails. Kind of.
Very well. Chairman LaSpata?
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: Maybe also
recommended
passage of SO2025-0021022, which
requires the SHAU
good department of
transportation to report to the
committee on pedestrian and
traffic safety at least 30
days prior to any bridge
closures sponsored by
Alderman Hopkins if there are no
objections, I move
passage of this item by the
first most favorable roll
call from the committee on
finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to
reconsider the vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: There were
also 431
routine traffic items before the
committee, all of
which passed. If there are no
objection, I move
passage of these items by the
same motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: So
ordered.
>> DANIEL LA SPATA: The
committee also held a
subject matter hearing with CDOT
on complete streets
pursuant to municipal code of
Chicago section 10-14.
No votes were taken on this
item. That concludes my
report. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, chair.
For the committee on public
safety, the chair
recognizes chair Hopkins.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President,
reporting for your committee on
public safety which
held a meeting on Tuesday,
February 23rd, 2026 FRMENT
in addition to approving the
rule 35 report for
January, your committee
recommends passage of the
following item. Amendment of
the municipal code 83260
to replace the term churches
with places of worship in
noise sensitive zones. If no
one wishes to speak I
move passage of this item by the
first favorable roll
call and associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
chair recognizes
Alderman Moore.
>> DAVID MOORE: Thank you, Mr.
President. I'd
gist like for the record to be
be -- just like for the
record to be voted no on this
item, to be recorded as
a no vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Moore would
like to be recorded as a no.
Seeing no other hands --
the chair recognizes Alderman
Lopez.
>> RAYMOND LOPEZ: Thank you,
Mr. President and
good afternoon, members of the
committee. I do rise
in support of this and I
congratulate our sponsors who
are making the language more
inclusive to correct as
our chairman noted, just an
error in the original
intent. But I also would
challenge my colleagues,
many of us who during this
hearing reference the fact
that you still have to introduce
individual ordinances
for individual churches or
houses or places of worship
as the law now is stating. If
you wish to protect
them from the electronic noise
and harassment that may
come their way. I believe it's
incumbent upon all of
us to ensure that we are not
making it more difficult
for places of worship to be
protected and look forward
to working with anyone who
wishes to address that
matter in the next City Council
meeting. Thank you.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. If there
are no other hands, no one else
wishes to speak, a
motion has been made on this
item. Hearing no other
objections, seeing no other
hands, so ordered.
Chairman Hopkins?
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Your committee also considered
proposed ordinance
21023, amending municipal code
section 44306 to
establish lawful procedures for
police to request
video surveillance footage from
private cameras
operated on premises under
licensure from the City of
Chicago. Your committee
recommends by vote of this
body rereferral of this matter
for further
consideration by a joint
committee of the committee on
public safety and the committee
on police and fire.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Is there
a motion or are you just
acknowledging --
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: A motion to
--
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: I
didn't hear the
motion. Apologies. So ordered.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President.
That concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr.
Chair. The chair recognizes for
the committee on
transportation and public way,
chairman Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, members of
the City Council, reporting for
your committee on
transportation and public way,
which held a meeting on
February 11, 2026. The
following items passed by the
majority of the members present.
Pages 3 and 4
included ten ordinances for
miscellaneous items
introduced by the local aldermen
from wards 16, 21,
24, 35, 41, 40, 45, and 47,
47. Pages 5 includes items
02026002517, a mayoral for a
resubdivision located in
the 47th ward. If there is no
objection, I move
passage of these items by the
first most favorable
roll call vote of the committee
on finance and the
associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: If
the chair
recognizes Alderman Moore.
>> DAVID MOORE: Just for
clarification, item
No. 2, the amendment of
2-8-0402060022535 was included
in that call, correct? Which
would be the second item
on the report. I just want to
make sure that -- was
that included in that call?
>> I'm sorry. --
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Can
you restate the
number again.
>> DAVID MOORE:
2-8-40260022535, the honorary
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Can
you restate the number again. >> DAVID MOORE:
2-8-40260022535, the honorary street designation.
>> Yes.
>> DAVID MOORE: And that's for
citywide to my
understanding, correct, and not
street designation.
>> Yes. >> DAVID MOORE: And that's for citywide to my
understanding, correct, and not ward specific?
>> Yes.
>> DAVID MOORE: I'd like to be
just recorded
as a no on that item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Please record
Alderman Moore as a no for that
item in 22535. Is
that correct?
>> DAVID MOORE: Yes.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Okay.
Yes, the motion has been made
despite the division.
This motion passes. So ordered.
Is there a --
chairman Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, this
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr.
Chair. Now for the committee on
zoning, landmarks,
building and standards, the
chair recognizes vice
chair Lawson.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Thank you,
Mr. President.
The members of the City Council
presenting a series of
reports for the committee on
zoning, landmarks and
building standards which held a
meeting on February
17th, 2026. The following items
were passed by a
majority of members present and
are grouped for
convenience. Page 1 contains
document 0002516, an
intergovernmental agreement with
the regional
transportation authority for a
Belmont blue line
equitable transit oriented
development STURD plan. I
move passage of this item by the
first most favorable
roll call vote of the finance
committee and the --
associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 1 also
contains
document No. 02025-0018183,
an amendment of the
municipal code title 17 by
modifying section 17-3-0207
to remove permit requirements
for gas stations in B3,
C1, and C2 zoning districts and
by modifying section
17-9-0109, restricting
expansions of gas stations in
certain circumstances. I move
passage of this item by
the same motion if there is no
objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Lopez?
>> RAYMOND LOPEZ: Good
afternoon, Mr.
President and members of the
committee. Originally I
intended to move to defer and
publish this item. But
after speaking with its
its sponsor and others, we had
a
lengthy discussion on how we can
continue to work on
this topic to move it forward.
I am not in a place
where I feel comfortable voting
in support, but I look
forward to working with my
colleague to address the
concerns of the impacted
businesses and communities.
All of us want good partners.
All of us believe that
many of the businesses
particularly our gas stations
owners and operators are good in
our communities.
They are necessary in our
communities. But we need to
make sure that we're doing
everything we can to ensure
that we are all operating on the
same page. And for
that reason, I would ask to be
recorded as no on this
item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Madam
Clerk, please record Alderman
Lopez as a no. Motion
has been made, despite the
division. This motion
passes.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 1 also
contains
document No. 02025-0021721, an
amendment of the
municipal code section
17-3-0308, and 17-4-0301
regarding new construction,
minimum ought moat he have
parking ratios near CTA or Metra
rail stations in
downtown districts. I move
passage of this item by
the same motion if there is no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 1 also
contains
document No.
02026-0022453, an amendment of the
municipal code, section
17-7-0574 to replace in its
entirety the boundaries
regarding additional dwelling
unit allowed RS areas. I move
passage of this item by
the same motion if there is no
objection. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 1 also
contains the
historic landmark designation
for the Humboldt and
sacramental extensions to the
Logan square boulevard's
district, located at the 16
through 1800 blocks of
north Humboldt boulevard, the 10
to 1100 blocks of
north sacrament owe and the east
sacrament owe
boulevard located in the 26th
ward. I move passage of
this item by the same motion if
there is no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 1 also
contains a
historic landmark designation of
the original
providence Baptist church locate
the at 515 north pine
avenue in the 37th ward. I move
passage of this item
by the same motion if there is
no objection. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Moving on,
pages 1 through
2 contain three fee waivers for
historical landmark
properties in the fourth and
34th wards. I move
passage of these items by the
same motion, if there is
no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Pages 2
through 13 contain
various map amendments in wards
1, 3, 8, 14, 17, 21,
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30,
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36,
40, 44, and 47. I move passage
of these items by the
same motion if there's no
objection noting that two
alders wish to speak on document
No.
02025-0021731,
which is found on page 10 at the
top of this -- top of
page 10 in the summary.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. If those
alders can raise their hand to
be acknowledged. The
chair recognizes Alderman
Hopkins.
>> BRIAN HOPKINS: Thank you,
Mr. President. I
rise in opposition to this
matter, but more
importantly, to just
signify this moment, the
significance of this moment.
For me it ends a
ten-year journey called Lincoln
yards. When we take
this vote, that will mark the
official demise of the
concept of Lincoln yards. It
will no longer exist by
virtue of the action we're
taking today. So I do have
to acknowledge that it was not
completely in vain.
There was one rather attractive
yet unfortunately
empty building that exists.
virtue of the action we're
taking today. So I do have to acknowledge that it was not completely in vain.
There was one rather attractive yet unfortunately empty building that exists.
Perhaps more importantly,
$30 million of IN environmental
remediation that was
completed on the 53-
53-acre site a con testimony
NATed
brown field after a legacy of
legacy of steel mills and scrap
yards, highly contaminated
industries, including by
the way the last factory in the
United States of
America to continue
manufacturing the chemical DDT
into the late '60s. So the
clean up was necessary.
And it has been completed, which
sets the stage for
the next chapter of this 53-acre
plot, which has now
been bifurcated into two
sections, the northern
section, which we're about to
approve the zoning map
amendment for today. But I want
to point out that
Lincoln yards as a concept had
two separate and
distinct components to it.
There was the private
development piece that included
the high-rises and the
14 million square feet of mixed
use space and the
6,000 residential units,
including a thousand
distinct components to it.
There was the private development piece that included the high-rises and the
14 million square feet of mixed use space and the 6,000 residential units,
including a thousand affordable. But there was also
$800 million in public
infrastructure improvements that
were included and
mandated as part of that deal.
And as we go forward
today, we're leaving all that
behind. We're approving
a new arguably better private
development component
under a new developer. And by
the way, the community
is largely in support of the
changes that were made.
There's less density, shorter
buildings, a more
attractive design in many ways.
under a new developer. And by
the way, the community is largely in support of the changes that were made.
There's less density, shorter buildings, a more attractive design in many ways.
But we're abandoning the $800 million in roads,
bridges, utilities, transit
improvements that were mandated
under the previous
deal. And that is unacceptable.
And it is the
justification for my no vote
today. As we mentioned
earlier, under the committee on
pedestrian safety, we
passed an ordinance requiring
CDOT to tell us when
they're going to close a bridge.
Because a few months
ago when they closed the bridge
in the area that will
soon become foundry park, the
resulting traffic
nightmare created was
irrefutable proof of the need
for traffic and transit
improvements in that area now,
today, before we break ground on
the next project for
foundry park, before we break
ground on the to be yet
named component on the southern
piece of it. Again,
it will be thousands of new
housing units, thousands
of new families, tens of
thousands of square feet of
new mixed use development, and
no infrastructure to
support it as of today. We
cannot allow that to
happen. That is unfair to the
current residents.
It's unfair to the developers
who are stepping up to
invest in our city and who are
intending to build a
new mixed use community that
will be attractive to all
of us. It's our obligation as a
city to do what we
are required to do, to build a
new bridge over the
river, to fix the Metra station,
to rebuild the Elston
and arm TAJ intersection, which
is a mess. All those
things that were promised to the
neighborhood as a
contingent as a support for
Lincoln yards. And as of
now, we're walking away from it.
For that reason I
vote know and I hope that we can
eventually correct
things that were promised to the
neighborhood as a contingent as a support for Lincoln yards. And as of
now, we're walking away from it.
For that reason I vote know and I hope that we can eventually correct
this problem and return the $800 million in T I F
funding that is necessary to
build the infrastructure
for this community. Thank u Mr.
President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you. Alderman
Waguespack.
>> SCOTT WAGUESPACK: Mr.
President, and just
want to talk a little bit about
the foundry park plan
which is vastly different from
the plan that we saw
several years ago. We do have
significant
transportation challenges in
this area. And I think
that the real solutions for this
are going to involve
a more holistic approach, which
working with
department of transportation,
transportation, working with
planning
and development, we see results
happen as this project
moves forward.
I want to commend you, mayor,
for the staff at
DPD and KRD. They have been
working on transportation
issues as we move this project
forward. We talked a
little bit about it at the plan
commission. And as
each piece moves forward,
they're going to come back
to plan commission, come back to
zoning to make sure
that the process is done
correctly and that we're
going through the right
procedures to make sure that
we improve this area as a whole.
I think the
successful site here is going to
be in coordination
with this developer with the
departments. And I think
with the community groups. We
do have a lot of
transportation needs in this
area. The original plan
for Lincoln yards talked about
800 million in
improvements. But when you look
at the area as a
whole, when you talk about the
intersections, the
Metra station, the bridges in
this area, like all of
ours across the city that are in
great need of
assistance from the federal
government, we're talking
actually into the billions of
dollars. So it's well
beyond, I think, what was
originally intended.
Those of us that have been
impacted by all the
road closures and the bridge
the bridge closures on the near
north side and west loop, that
is a huge impact. I do
not like the fact that courtland
was closed down so
quickly. However, this gives
the developer an
opportunity to work on the
infrastructure, work on the
river walk, do all the things
that have been provided
for in the redevelopment
agreement and hopefully move
forward. And I think finally, I
want to thank the
chairman for continuing to move
this thing forward.
It sends a great message, I
think, to the development
community for our city that
Chicago is still open for
business, that we can move
forward with a FANT
with a fantastic
project like this. And despite
the seven-year hiccup,
we're moving in the right
direction. So I would ask
for the council's favorable
consideration of this item
and again, thank you, chairman,
for your diligence in
moving this forward. Thank you,
Mr. President.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Thank
you. The motion has been made
for those items, but
Alderman Hopkins would like to
be recorded as a no on
that -- on item which number was
that?
>> 02025-0021731.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: The top of
page 10.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Despite the
division, this motion still
passes. So ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Page 17
contains various
large signs over 100 square feet
in area, 24 feet
above grade in wards 4, 11, 21,
23, 27, 28, 29, 32,
34, 35, 36, 42, and 40. I move
passage of these items
by the same motion if there is
no objection.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing none, so
ordered.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Thank you,
Mr. President.
That concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Vice
chair. For the agreed upon
calendar on those matters,
the chair recognizes Alderwoman Harris.
Harris. We have a
joint committee? Oh. My
apologies. The joint
committee. Chair recognizes
alder Vasquez will report
this joint committee.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Thank you
very much, Mr.
President and members of the
City Council, reporting
for your joint committee on
immigrant refugee rights
and police and fire which held a
meeting on January
27th of 2026. One item was
recommended for passage by
the joint committee
02025-002.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Just
a second. Let
him finish his statement,
please. Then I'll
acknowledge you. Please
continue, Mr. Chair.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Thank you.
02025-0020004,
which is an amendment of
municipal code section
2-78-120 to modify powers and
duties of civilian
office of police accountability
to include conducting
investigations into complaints
made against members of
the Chicago Police Department.
I move passage of
02025-0020004 by the first
favorable roll call vote of
the committee on finance and the
and the associated
unsuccessful motion to
reconsider.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. There's
a motion on the floor. The
chair recognizes alder
Tabares.
>> SILVANA TABARES: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I along with other alders,
Alderman Beale, Alderman
Napolitano and Alderman Lopez,
motion to defer and
publish this item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Can you
alders confirm, very well. This
motion will be
deferred and published. Thank
you. Anything else,
chair? Vasquez?
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: Nothing I'm
going to say here.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you.
>> ANDRE VASQUEZ: That
concludes my report.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
You're welcome.
Now, for the agreed upon
calendar, the chair
recognizes Alderwoman Harris.
>> MICHELLE HARRIS: From clerk
Andrea M.
Valencia, total of 140 items
proposed FOSHT agreed
calendar consisting of
congratulatory commemorative
triple resolutions from clerk
Valencia from the
following alderpersons,
alderperson Hopkins,
alderperson Dowell, alderperson
Harris, alderperson
Chico, alderperson Lee,
alderperson Quinn, alderperson
Lopez, alderperson Coleman,
alderperson Tabares,
alderperson Taliaferro,
alderperson Conway,
alderperson Vasquez, alderperson
Knudsen, alderperson
Lawson, #5U7 Gardiner,
alderperson Clay, alderperson
Hadden, and three additional
resolutions from
alderperson Dowell, alderperson
Moore, and alderperson
Sigcho-Lopez, I move these in
the omnibus.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered. For new
business the clerk
will begin with the 50th
Sigcho-Lopez, I move these in
the omnibus. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Hearing no
objection, so ordered. For new business the clerk will begin with the 50th ward.
Sigcho-Lopez, I move these in the omnibus. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection, so ordered. For new business the clerk
will begin with the 50th ward.
>> (Reading new
business).
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Clerk
for the approval of the journal.
The chair recognizes
recognizes Alderman.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: He will.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, I am not
aware of any corrections to the
journal from the
January 21st, 2026 meeting and
move that it be
approved.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objections, so ordered. Now for
unfinished business,
Alderman Mitchell.
Mitchell. The chair recognizes
Alderwoman
Coleman.
>> STEPHANIE COLEMAN: I'm
requesting a
15-minute recess. I make a
motion for a 15-minute
recess, please.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. All
those in favor of the 15-minute
recess, very well.
There is a roll call request.
First of all, there is
a motion on the floor for a
15-minute recess. That
motion has been requested to be
taken up by roll call.
Madam Clerk, if you can make the
e-vote applications
available so that the City
Council members can record
their vote. The chair
recognizes Alderman Sposato.
>> NICHOLAS SPOSATO: I'm just
curious why the
request. That's all. I mean --
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Before
the roll call vote proceeds,
Alderman Sposato would
like to understand a rationale.
>> NICHOLAS SPOSATO: Yes,
that's all.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
chair recognizes
Alderwoman Coleman.
>> STEPHANIE COLEMAN: Thank you
Mr. President.
An opportunity for members of
the City Council to have
a discussion before the
essential introduction. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Okay.
The rationale
has been provided that there are
members of the body
that wish to have a discussion
before a matter is
taken up by this body. Very
well. The motion on the
floor is for a 15-minute recess.
There is a roll call
vote. 15-minute. Roll call
vote. Members, please
use your e-vote application at
this time to record
your vote.
>> All right. The voting is now
open. The
voting is now open. Please use
your e-device. The
voting is now
open.
I will now call on those that
have not used the
e-device. Alderman Hopkins, not
present. Alderman
Robinson, not present.
Alderwoman -- sorry --
Alderman Beale. Oh, Alderman
Hall.
e-device. Alderman Hopkins, not
present. Alderman Robinson, not present. Alderwoman -- sorry --
Alderman Beale. Oh, Alderman Hall. >> WILLIAM HALL: No.
>> Hall is no. Alderman
Beale. He's using --
Alderman Chico. I'll come back
to him. Chico, yea?
Chico is a yes. Yes. Chico is
a yes. Alderwoman
Ramirez. Alderwoman Ramirez.
Yes or no? Alderwoman
Ramirez is a no. Alderman
Curtis. Curtis is a yes.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is not present.
Alderman Mosley. Alderman
Rodriguez.
Alderperson
Fuentes. Fuentes is a yes.
Alderman Burnett.
Alderman O'Shea. Alderman
O'Shea is not present. Alderman Mosley. Alderman Rodriguez. Alderperson
Fuentes. Fuentes is a yes. Alderman Burnett. >> WALTER BURNETT: No.
>> Fuentes, I'm sorry, is a
no. Alderman
Conway. Fuentes is a no.
>> WALTER BURNETT: No.
>> Fuentes, I'm sorry, is a no. Alderman Conway. Fuentes is a no.
>> WILLIAM CONWAY: Yes.
>> Conway is a yes. Alderman
Vasquez. Vasquez
is a no. Alderman Knudsen.
Knudsen is a yes.
Alderman Lawson. Lawson is a
yes. Alderwoman Clay.
>> ANGELA CLAY: Yes.
>> Clay is a yes. Alderman
Martin. Martin is
a yes. Alderwoman
Manaa-Hoppenworth.
Manaa-Hoppenworth is a no.
Alderwoman Hadden. Not
present. Alderman Mosley.
Alderman Rodriguez.
Anyone else walk in? All right.
The voting is now
closed.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: There
are 31 yeas,
13 nays. This motion passes.
15-minute recess.
Anyone else walk in? All right.
The voting is now closed. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: There are 31 yeas,
13 nays. This motion passes. 15-minute recess.
(Short
recess).
Par. Short
Par. . . . .
(Short
Par. . . . .
(Short recess). . .
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: I
know we worked so
hard to make sure that we have
recess in our schools,
now in City Council. So this
meeting will be called
back to order. Alderman
Mitchell, on any unfinished
business.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Mr.
President, I'm aware
of one piece of unfinished
business filed by Alderman
Lawson and I defer to him.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The
chair recognizes
Alderman Lawson.
>> BENNETT LAWSON: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I would like to hold this item.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well. Alderman
Lawson has passed for the item
to be held. Very well.
Thank you. Now for -- is there
any other unfinished
business? That's the only item
that you were aware
of, correct? Thank you. For
miscellaneous business,
Alderman Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I'm not
aware of any
piece of -- I'm sorry.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: This
is for the
ordinance --
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: Except for
the ordinance
setting the date and time of the
next meeting I am not
aware of any miscellaneous
business.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Very
well.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I've
handed UCH an
ordinance to the clerk setting
the date and time.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Thank
you, sir. For
the clerk, could you please read
the ordinance.
>> Being named by the City
Council and SKROOIT,
section 1, the next regular
meeting of the VOOIK of
the City of Chicago shall be
held on March 18th, 2026,
beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the
council chamber on the
second floor of City Hall, 124
north LaSalle street,
this shall be enforced from and
after its passage.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Alderman Mitchell?
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I move
that matters in
the omnibus be passed by the
first most favorable roll
call vote.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: For
the passage of
the omnibus, hearing no
objection, so ordered. Now
for the omnibus, Alderman
Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: I move
that matters in
the omnibus be passed by the
the committee of finance and
first successful motion.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, so ordered. Now for
the motion to adjourn,
Alderman Mitchell.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: There
being no further
business, I move we adjourn.
>> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no
objection, the meeting is
adjourned.
>> GREGORY MITCHELL: There
being no further business, I move we adjourn. >> MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON:
Hearing no objection, the meeting is adjourned. .